Life, Trial, Confession & Execution of Catherine Wilson, The Female...
"She was a Perfect Borgia, Or Female Palmer" [Broadside]. [Execution]. Wilson, Catherine [1822-1862]. Life, Trial, Confession & Execution of Catherine Wilson, The Female Poisoner, Who was Executed at Newgate, On Monday, Oct. 20th, For the Murder of Mrs. Soames. [London]: Printed for the Vendors, [1862]. 19-3/4" x 15" broadside hinged (with two small circular stickers at top-edge) onto 24" x 17" board. Text in four columns below headline and large woodcut vignette of execution, smaller portrait woodcut of Wilson, surrounded by two columns of verse, at foot of text. Light toning, horizontal and vertical fold lines, faint offsetting, minor creasing along fold lines and at edges, small hole near top-edge affecting headline with minor loss to text but not legibility, brief penciled note near headline. $3,250. * Wilson was an infamous English serial killer connected with at least seven murders. A live-in nurse, she poisoned her victims, primarily with colchicum or sulfuric acid disguised as medicine, after persuading them to include her in their wills. As indicated by this broadside produced for street vendors at her execution, which was attended by a crowd of almost 20,000 people, her case attracted a great deal of attention. Wilson was the last woman publicly hanged in London. OCLC and Library Hub locate 1 copy of this rare broadside (Harvard Law School).
Price: $3,250.00
Book number 73851