Trial of Albert John Tirrell for the Murder of Mary Ann Bickford,...
An Early (and Successful) Sleepwalking Defense: McDade 991 [Trial]. Tirrell, Albert John, Defendant. Trial of Albert John Tirrell for the Murder of Mary Ann Bickford. In the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts. Holden at Boston, Tuesday, March 24th, 1846. Together with the Lives of Albert J. Tirrell and Mary Ann Bickford. Reported For The Boston Daily Times by J.E.P. Weeks, Esq. Boston: Published at the 'Times' Office, 1846. 39 pp. Octavo (9-1/2" x 6-1/2"). Stab-stitched pamphlet in self-wrappers, edges untrimmed. Moderate toning, minor creasing to edges in places, small ink stains to title page and final three leaves with resulting small holes, minor loss to legibility on final leaf only, faint dampstaining to a few leaves. $450. * Only edition. "The murder of a harlot seems to lend a special interest to a case which is measurable by the many publications which ensue. (...) The Tirrell case is one of the triumphs of Rufus Choate, who convinced the jury that his client did not cut the throat of Mrs. Bickford, or, if he did, he did it in his sleep. The defense of somnambulism by Choate might well join that other classic of defense put forth by Delphin Michael Delmas, who as counsel for Harry K. Thaw pleaded 'dementia Americana'" (McDade). Cohen, Bibliography of Early American Law 13118. McDade, The Annals of Murder 991.
Price: $450.00
Book number 78504