A Correct Statement and Review of the Trial of Joseph T. Buckingham...
Early American Freedom of the Press: The 1822 Boston Libel Trial of Editor Joseph T. Buckingham Buckingham, Joseph T[inker], [1779-1861]. A Correct Statement and Review of the Trial of Joseph T. Buckingham, for an Alledged Libel on the Rev. John N. Maffit, before the Hon. Josiah Quincy, Judge of the Municipal Court, Dec. 16, 1822. Boston: William S. Spear, No. 4, Spear's buildings, Congress-street, 1822. Octavo. 8-1/2" x 5-1/4"; 21.6 x 13.3 cm. [3], 4-16 pp. Disbound pamphlet. Browned. Chipping to edges. Internally clean. A good copy. $450. * First edition. Buckingham was a fearless editor in the mold of William Cobbett, often involved in non-violent confrontations. Maffitt was a poet as well as a clergyman, whose theatrical preaching style made him a frequent target for critics. The presiding judge, Josiah Quincy, was a towering Massachusetts political figure who later became the Mayor of Boston and President of Harvard University. This trial exposed a massive schism in Boston society between his devoted followers and defenders of traditional New England clerical decorum. The author praises both Buckingham and Maffitt, and agrees with the verdict, blaming the affair on misguided friends of Maffitt's, particularly Alexander Jones, Jr., an episcopal minister from Providence, Rhode Island. Cohen, Bibliography of Early American Law 13280; McCoy, Freedom of the Press (B613).
Price: $450.00
Book number 86381