The Trial of John Williams...Murder on the High Seas, 1818.
Mutiny, Murder, and Piracy on the High Seas [Trials]. Williams, John [1789-1819], Primary Defendant. The Trial of John Williams, Francis Frederick, John P. Rog, Nils Peterson, And Nathaniel White, On an Indictment for Murder on the High Seas; Before the Circuit Court of the United States, Holden for the District of Massachusetts, At Boston, On the 29th of December, 1818. Boston: Printed by Russell and Gardner, 1819. 92 pp. Octavo (9-1/2" x 5-1/2"; 24.1 x 14 cm). Stab-stitched pamphlet, untrimmed edges. Moderate edgewear, moderate toning and light foxing to text, title page wrinkled. Interesting listing of 17 names, presumably the crew, at the bottom of the last page. $1,500. * Only edition of the official contemporary account of a notorious American piracy trial. In 1816, the defendants staged a violent mutiny aboard the schooner Plattsburgh off the coast of Georgia. Driven by the allure of $40,000 in specie hidden on board, the crew brutally murdered the ship's supercargo, Thomas Bayard-a bloody affair recounted in graphic detail across the pamphlet's 92 pages. After dividing the plunder, the mutineers sailed the vessel to Denmark. Their plot unraveled in Copenhagen when the ship's mate, who had been held hostage during the voyage, managed to escape and alert the authorities. The high-stakes case was tried before Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story, sitting in his capacity as Judge of the U.S. Circuit Court for the District of Massachusetts. The jury convicted Williams, Frederick, Rog, and Peterson of murder and piracy (Nathaniel White was acquitted). The four condemned men were executed by hanging in January 1820. A highly sensationalized case that captivated early 19th-century America, spawning several popular narratives. This official printing remains the definitive, comprehensive account of the proceedings. Cohen, Bibliography of Early American Law 13248. McDade, The Annals of Murder 1103.
Price: $1,500.00
Book number 74539