William Corder, As He Appeard Upon His Trial, Drawn From Life & Upon..
One of Two Known Copies: A Striking Portrait of the Infamous Murderer William Corder [Corder, William (1803-1828)] Hancock, Charles [c.1800-1877], Artist. William Corder, As He Appeared Upon His Trial. Bury St Edmunds: Printed by C[harles Joseph] Hullmandel, Published Aug[u]st 13th, 1828 by Cha[rles] Hancock, [1828]. Lithograph, 15 x 11 in. (38 x 28 cm). Light toning and soiling; faint lower-right stain; minor nicks, short tears (two repaired on verso), and folds to corners; "for the willful murder of Amira Martin" in faint contemporary pencil added to the caption after "As He Appeared Upon His Trial." Very good overall. One of only two known copies. $1,500. * William Corder was an English murderer convicted of the infamous murder of his lover, Maria Marten. The case became one of 19th-century Britain's most sensational "trials by media," blending elements of gothic tragedy, a manhunt and a discovery allegedly spurred by prophetic dreams. In May 1827, Corder lured 24-year-old Maria Marten to the Red Barn in Polstead, Suffolk, under the pretense of eloping to Ipswich. Instead, he killed her-later confessing to shooting her during an argument-and buried her body beneath the floor of the barn. Corder fled to London and sent letters to Maria's family claiming they were happily married and living on the Isle of Wight. In reality, he had married another woman after placing a matrimonial advertisement in a newspaper. Nearly a year later, Maria's stepmother, Ann Marten, claimed to have recurring dreams that Maria was murdered and buried in the Red Barn. Her persistence led Maria's father to dig in the barn, where he discovered his daughter's remains on April 19, 1828. Corder was captured in London, where he was running a school for young ladies with his new wife. During his trial at Bury St Edmunds, he claimed Maria had committed suicide or died by accident. The jury took only 35 minutes to find him guilty. On August 11, 1828, Corder was hanged in front of a crowd estimated between 7,000 and 20,000 people The print depicts a pensive Corder lying against a post at his trial. Below the image are facsimiles of hand-written testimonials attesting to the accuracy of the likeness by the coroner, undersheriff, surgeon to the jail and surgeon to Suffolk General Hospital. This is not surprising. Hancock was one of.
Price: $1,500.00
Book number 85758