"EVIDENCE SUFFICIENT TO SUPPORT THE CHARGE OF MOST INDECENT AND DISGUSTING CONDUCT": THE ADULTERY CASE AGAINST QUEEN CAROLINE

(QUEEN CAROLINE). [BARRON, Edward]. The Legislatorial Trial of Her Majesty Caroline Amelia Elizabeth, Queen of England, Consort of George the Fourth, for the Alleged Crime of Adultery with Bartolomeo Bergami. London: H. Rowe, 1820. Octavo, contemporary quarter speckled calf, marbled boards, spine elaborately gilt-decorated. $1400.

First edition: An uncommon contemporary account of one of the greatest royal scandals of the 19th century, with five engraved plates including a folding frontispiece of the courtroom.

Following the charge of adultery laid by King George IV against Queen Caroline and her former servant Bartolomeo Pergami (given here as Bergami), the House of Lords proceeded to examine every salacious detail of the queen's alleged misdeeds in 51 days' worth of proceedings here compiled by Edward Barron, author of a fictionalized version of Caroline's life titled The Royal Wanderer. The accusations presented in court included testimony about an indecent fandango dancer named Mahomet, a sighting of Her Majesty with a bare breast while in seclusion with Pergami and opinions of a chambermaid regarding stains on the queen's bedclothes, along with many questions about bathing, sleeping and dining arrangements. Some, all, or none of this may have been invention prompted by greed, malice, or the king's well-known desire to rid himself of his long-estranged wife, with Barron declaring himself convinced that the trial established "the innocence of a long persecuted Queen" — despite Caroline's generally famously licentious behavior. The present account was one of the earliest complete reports to make it to press, appearing shortly after the trial's conclusion in November. The volume is illustrated with an oversized, folding plate engraved by Robert Roberts after H.R. Cruikshanks, titled "A Sketch of the Interior View of the House of Lords, Representing the Trial of Her Majesty Queen Caroline" and providing a key to the figures depicted, as well as with four other engraved portraits of Henry Brougham, Louisa Dumont, Thomas Denman and Princess Charlotte (some copies are described as having an additional portrait of the queen, not present here).

Text and plates with occasional foxing, front free endpaper with old tape residue. Handsome contemporary binding with expert restoration to joints and extremities.