An Act for the Further Punishment of Persons who Shall Aid or Assist..
Penal Transportation to America [Great Britain]. [Transportation]. An Act for the Further Punishment of Persons who Shall Aid or Assist Prisoners to Attempt to Escape out of Lawful Custody [Drop-Head Title]. At head: Anno Decimo Sexto Georgii II. Regis. London: Printed by Thomas Baskett and Robert Baskett, 1743. [ii], 579, 592-594 pp. Text complete. Folio (12-1/4" x 7-3/4"). Disbound stab-stitched pamphlet. Light toning, slight darkening to top-edge. $250. * First printing of the Prison (Escape) Act of 1742, which increased penalties for anyone caught helping prisoners escape. If the escaped prisoner had been convicted of a felony, their accomplice would likewise be charged with a felony and if convicted, "be transported to One of his Majesty's Colonies or Plantations in America, for the Term of Seven Years," the maximum allowable penalty under the Transportation Act of 1717. Beginning in the early 1600s, convicts were transported to the West Indies or the mainland colonies that would become the United States of America. After the Revolutionary War stopped transportation to the mainland, New South Wales became the primary destination for British convicts. Acts such as these were compiled over the course of a session and bound afterwards. They were issued with general title pages, which were often discarded; the title page is present in the issue offered here. English Short-Title Catalogue N52002.
Price: $250.00
Book number 73696