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Trial of John Hendrickson, Jr. For the Murder of His Wife [And]...

Trial; Hendrickson, John; Barnes, David M; Hevenor

A Copy of McDade 468 with Related Contemporary Newspaper Clippings and a Daguerreotype of the Victim [Trial]. Hendrickson, John [1832-1854], Defendant. Barnes, David M., Reporter, Compiler. Hevenor, W.S. [d.1909], Reporter, Compiler. Trial of John Hendrickson, Jr. For the Murder of His Wife Maria, By Poisoning, at Bethlehem, Albany County, N.Y., March 6th, 1853: Tried in the Court of Oyer and Terminer, at Albany, N.Y., In June and July, 1853. Albany: David M. Barnes and W.S. Hevenor, Publishers, 1853. 176 pp. Frontispiece with woodcut portraits of John and Maria Hendrickson. Octavo (8-3/4" x 5-1/2"). Original cloth, gilt title to front board, early owner label (Wm. L. Learn[ed]) to spine. Light rubbing to boards, moderate rubbing to extremities with wear to spine ends and corners, rear hinge partially cracked. Moderate toning to interior, slightly heavier in places, early owner signature (W.L. Learned) to title page, traces of penciled notes to front pastedown, early notes about trial to rear free endpaper, 4 contemporary newspaper clippings about the trial tipped-in to front free endpaper and rear endleaves. [And] 3-1/2" x 3" Daguerreotype of Maria Hendrickson in a 3-3/4" x 3-1/4" hinged leather case with metal clasps. [Albany?, c. 1850]. Light rubbing to front, moderate rubbing to back and extremities. Together two items. $2,500. * Only edition. John Hendrickson was a wastrel who married into the wealthy Van Dusen family of Albany, NY. Unfaithful to his wife and eager to acquire her fortune, he poisoned her with aconite. This is believed to be the first American murder committed with this substance. New ground was broken by the forensic testimony presented in this case by several experts, most notably Benjamin Silliman, the eminent chemist and Yale professor. The Daguerreotype of Maria Hendrickson bears a close resemblance to the woodcut of her in the book's frontispiece, where she is described--oddly--as the "wife of the prisoner." OCLC locates 3 copies, 1 in a law library (Harvard). McDade, The Annals of Murder 468.

Price: $2,500.00

Book number 74586