"I CAN ONLY SOLEMNLY ASSURE YOU THAT I NEVER FORGED A STAMP IN MY LIFE"

(BLACKBURN, Joseph) HAMILTON, Richard Winter. Report of the Trial of Mr. Joseph Blackburn, Attorney at Law, Leeds, for Forgery [bound with] A Sermon, Preached at Leeds… On Occasion of the Execution of Mr. Joseph Blackburn, Attorney at Law, for Forgery; With Details of Conversations with Him During His Imprisonment. Leeds: Pr. by B. Dewhirst for Davies and Booth, 1815; London: Pr. (by B. Dewhirst) for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, & Brown, 1815. Octavo, late 20th-century full brown morocco, black morocco spine label, marbled endpapers, uncut. $500.

Two uncommon works connected to a sensational forgery trial, first edition of the Report and fourth of the Sermon, with an autograph letter signed by printer Benjamin Dewhirst bound in.

Charged with removing stamps from deeds and thus defrauding the public revenue, Leeds attorney Joseph Blackburn was sentenced to be hanged despite maintaining his innocence. Many felt hanging to be an excessively harsh punishment, resulting in a public outcry and a petition for a royal pardon from the Prince Regent—to no avail. The record of Blackburn's trial is of interest for the amount of information provided on stamping practices of the day as well as for the expert testimony recorded by engravers and stampers; it is followed by a lengthy sermon preached by the Rev. Richard Winter Hamilton, adding his thoughts on Blackburn's crime and state of mind based on his frequent visits to the prisoner. Both works were printed by Benjamin Dewhirst. Bound in at the front of this volume is an unrelated manuscript letter from Dewhirst dated 1861, responding to an inquiry about a book by a Colonel Maxwell.

Scattered minor foxing, pages otherwise clean. A fine, handsomely bound example of these scarce documents.