Yerrinton, James M.W.:

$175 · Offered by William Reese Company · No longer available

REPORT OF THE CASE OF GEO. C. HERSEY, INDICTED FOR THE MURDER OF BETSY FRANCES TIRRELL, BEFORE THE SUPREME JUDICIAL COURT OF MASSACHUSETTS.... Inscribed: "To the Attorney General in the Qeen [sic] v. William Palmer 1856 - from G.A. Somerby, Boston, Mass. U.S." The DNB devotes a long article to the character and celebrated case of William Palmer, the notorious "Rugeley poisoner." Palmer was tried at the Old Bailey on May 14, 1856. The attorney-general in the case was Sir Alexander Cockburn, apparently the recipient of the present volume. The case of William Palmer is cited in the Preface, since it was believed that Palmer used strychnine in murdering at least one of his victims, but the chemists were unable to detect any trace of that poison in the body of the deceased. In the present case, Hersey was convicted and hanged in Massachusetts for the murder of his fiancé's sister, whom he had impregnated. According to the Preface, as of the date of publication, this work "is believed to be the only published trial for murder in which the presence of strychnine has been detected by chemical analysis in the body of the deceased." A fine association copy of an important murder case. Not in Sabin.

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