The Sorrowful Lamentation of Wm Henry Austin, John Edmunds...
The Only Known Copy [Broadside]. [Executions]. Austin, William Henry [c.1789-1825]. Edmunds, John [c.1801-1825]. Jasper, Richard William [c.1800-1825]. The Sorrowful Lamentation of Wm. Henry Austin, John Edmunds, And Richard Wm. Jasper, Who are Ordered for Execution on Tuesday Next. [London]: Birt, Printer, 1825. 9-1/2" x 7-1/2" (24.3 x 19.2 cm) broadside, edges untrimmed, mounted to later 10" x 8" (25.7 x 20.2 cm) backing sheet. Text in double columns separated by thin rule below headline. Negligible light soiling, a few tiny holes (no loss to text), small spots of adhesive or residue to verso. Rare. $1,250. * This broadside records the outcome of a Privy Council meeting to discuss the fates of fourteen prisoners held at Newgate under sentence of death after their conviction at the Old Bailey October sessions in 1825. "His Majesty was graciously pleased to respite" eleven of the prisoners, including two teenage girls convicted of housebreaking and a gang of seven convicted of larceny. Our broadside is careful to note the duration of the meeting ("upwards of an hour and a half"), reflecting the important optics of the prerogative of mercy in the age of the Bloody Code. William Henry Austin, a postal employee who stole a letter, John Edmunds, convicted of horse theft, and Richard William Jasper, who forged a bill of exchange, were not so lucky. All three were hanged on December 27, 1825. A seven-stanza ballad of typically dubious quality commemorates their sentence. This broadside appears to be unrecorded. No copies located on OCLC or Library Hub. Not at Harvard, Oxford or the British Library.
Price: $1,250.00
Book number 85925