Account of the Murder of the Late Mr William Weare, Of Lyon's Inn...
Copy of a Sordid Tale of Gambling and Murder From the Library of John Fowles Jones, George Henry. Account of the Murder of the Late Mr. William Weare of Lyon's Inn, London, Including the Circumstances Which First Led to the Discovery of the Murder and the Detection of the Murderers, The Depositions Taken Before the Magistrates, The Coroner's Inquest, the Trials of the Prisoners and the Execution of John Thurtell, At Hertford on Friday the 9th of January 1824, Embellished with Views of Gill's-Hill Cottage, The Pond in the Garden Where the Body was Concealed of Hill-Slough near Elstree, Where it was Finally Deposited and Portraits of the Prisoners, John Thurtell, Jos. Hunt and Wm. Probert, Drawn by Mr. George Lewis with Their Autographs: Illustrated with a Ground-Plan of Gill's-Hill Cottage and Garden and a Map of the Surrounding Country. London: Printed by J. Nichols and Son, 25, Parliament-Street, For Sherwood, Jones and Co. Paternoster Row, 1824. [iv], 344 pp. 4 lithographed plates, 1 one of them a frontispiece, 2 folding maps. Octavo (8-1/4" x 5-1/4"). Nineteenth-century three-quarter calf over marbled boards, raised bands, lettering piece and gilt and blind fillets to spine. Light rubbing to boards, moderate rubbing to extremities, tiny chip to lettering piece, hinges cracked, front free endpaper and frontispiece partially detached. Moderate toning to interior, light foxing, soiling and dampstaining in a few places, embossed owner stamp of John Fowles to front free endpaper, marks and brief annotations in his hand to several leaves, signature of James Alan Park, with annotations by Fowles, affixed to verso of frontispiece, possibly by Fowles. $750. * Only edition. John Thurtell, an unlucky gambler, was deeply in debt to the crooked bookmaker William Weare. Deciding to take revenge, Thurtell, along with his friends Joseph Hunt and William Probert, murdered Weare in a grisly manner and tossed his body into a pond. Thurtell tried to escape conviction. He was hanged. Hunt confessed his involvement and stated that Thurtell was the killer. He was sent to the penal colony in Botany Bay, Australia. Charges against Probert were dropped in exchange for his wife's testimony. Fowles [1926-2005] was an important English novelist whose works include The Collector (1963), The Magus (1965) and The French Lieute.
Price: $750.00
Book number 80111