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Report of the Trial of William Palmer [with] The Great Lunacy Case...

Trial; Palmer, William; Windham, William Frederick

Poisoning and Lunacy [Trial]. Palmer, William [1824-1856], Defendant. Illustrated and Unabridged Edition of The Times Report of the Trial of William Palmer for Poisoning John Parsons Cook, At Rugeley. From the Short-Hand Notes Taken in the Central Court from Day to Day. London: Ward and Lock, 1856. 184 pp. With numerous woodcut illustrations and a folding frontispiece. [Bound with] [Trial]. Windham, William Frederick [b.1840], Defendant. The Great Lunacy Case of Mr. W.F. Windham. Reported by a Solicitor. London: H. Vickers, [1862]. 60 pp. 2 pp. publisher advertisements. [And] [Richardson, James]. Studies from the Antique. Edinburgh: John Baxter, 1862. 62 pp. [And] Runciman, David [1803-1872]. Marriage and Married Life; A Week Day Homily. Glasgow: Printed by Robert Anderson, 1862. 32 pp. [And] Cooper, J[ames] F[enimore] [1789-1851]. The Water Witch; Or, The Skimmer of the Seas. A Tale. London: Published by J. Cunningham, 1839. 136 pp. Octavo (8" x 5-1/2") [trim size of Windham trial 7-1/2" x 5"]. Stab-stitched pamphlets bound in contemporary cloth, gilt title to spine, early manuscript table of contents to front endleaf. Light rubbing to extremities, light fading to spine, spine ends and corners bumped and lightly worn, faint offsetting to endleaves, hinges cracked. Light toning to interior, a few, mostly partial, cracks to text block, second item loosening very slightly but secure, small spots and tiny faint stains to a few leaves, folding frontispiece of first item reinforced at right edge not affecting image. $650. * This volume contains accounts of two famous nineteenth-century trials. Palmer, a first-rate sociopath, was tried and convicted for the 1855 murder of his friend John Cook and executed in 1856. Also known as the Rugeley Poisoner or the Prince of Poisoners, he was suspected of several other murders, including four of his children killed before their first birthdays. The Windham trial was one of the most famous insanity trials of the time and an early example of the use of forensic psychiatry. Windham's uncle, a distinguished soldier and M.P., alleged that his nephew was unfit to take possession of the estate. After weeks of testimony, the court disagreed and Windham was found sane. The other titles are unrelated to the cases. Several are scarce. OCLC loca.

Price: $650.00

Book number 78490