Some Particulars of the Life of Thomas H Daniels, Alias Daniel H...
McDade 240: "How Wretched is the Man Who's Wise Too Late" Daniels, Thomas H. [d. 1819]. Some Particulars of the Life of Thomas H. Daniels, Alias Daniel H. Thomas, Who Was Apprehended in Newport on the 29th November on Suspicion of Being Concerned in the Robbery and Murder of Mr. Jacob Gould of Stoneham on the Evening of the 25th November and Who Put an End to His Existence by Hanging Himself in Middlesex Prison on the 13th Instant. Communicated by Said Daniels While in Prison in Newport to a Gentleman of This Town. Annexed is a Serious Address to the Public, On the Pernicious Effects of Vice and Immorality. Boston: Printed for William Chamberlain, 1819. 24 pp. Woodcut portrait frontispiece. 12mo. (7" x 4"). Disbound stab-stitched pamphlet. Light browning and dampspotting, a few minor chips and tears to margins of frontispiece. Rare. $1,850. * Only edition. Daniels, who took part in a robbery that ended in murder, had a criminal career that included convictions for horse-theft and counterfeiting. He hanged himself in his cell with a handkerchief. The frontispiece depicts Daniels kneeling in chains in his cell below a stanza of verse, which summarizes the message of the pamphlet: "Youths! By my example, learn to shun my fate, (How wretched is the man who's wise too late!), Ere innocence, and fame, and life be lost, Here purchase wisdom cheaply at my cost." This title is rare in commerce. The last time a copy sold at auction since 1910 was in 1991. OCLC locates 10 copies, 1 in a law library (Harvard). McDade, The Annals of Murder 240.
Price: $1,850.00
Book number 74609