Trial, Execution, And Confession of the Burkers, On Monday...
Extremely Rare Broadside Account of the Trial and Execution of the "London Burkers" [Broadside]. [Executions]. Bishop, John [d.1831]. Williams, Thomas [d.1831]. May, [James]. Trial, Execution, And Confession of the Burkers, On Monday, December 5th, 1831 for the Murder of Charles Fariere, An Italian Boy. [London]: Printed by J[ohn] V[andenburg] Quick, 42, Bowling Green Lane, Clerkenwell; And Sold by J. Pitts, Great St. Andrew Street, 7 Dials, [1831]. 15" x 10" (38 x 25.5 cm) broadside, text in three columns below headline and three woodcut vignettes of the defendants. Light browning, minor edgewear, a few faint stains, horizontal and vertical fold lines with slight creasing along them, clean tear to central horizontal fold affecting text without loss to legibility. $1,750. * Known as the "London Burkers," John Bishop, Thomas Williams, and James May were "resurrection men" whose grim trade directly mirrored the murderous exploits of Edinburgh's William Burke and William Hare. Rather than relying solely on grave robbing, the trio began luring vulnerable individuals to their home, where they were drugged and drowned to preserve the corpses for anatomical sale. Their enterprise collapsed in early November 1831 following the "Italian Boy Murder"-so named because the victim was mistakenly believed to be a missing Italian street musician. When the suspects attempted to sell the remarkably fresh corpse to King's College, an astute anatomist noticed the lack of burial soil and suspicious trauma, promptly alerting the authorities. The subsequent investigation uncovered evidence of multiple murders, culminating in a sensational trial. On December 3, 1831, all three were convicted; Bishop and Williams were hanged two days later before a crowd of thousands, while May's sentence was commuted to transportation to Van Diemen's Land. This highly sensational broadside reflects the intense public fascination and moral panic surrounding the case. Printed immediately following the executions, the text assumes a contemporary readership already intimately familiar with the gruesome details. It provides a vivid contemporary account of the trial and final executions, augmented by a poignant, purported farewell letter from Williams to his wife, and concludes with seven stanzas of moralizing cautionary verse. Extremely Rare. OCLC locat.
Price: $1,750.00
Book number 82999