The Case and Memoirs of the Late Rev Mr James Hackman, And of His..

1779. Murdered by a Jealous (and Insane?) Ex-Lover [Hackman, James (1752-1779)]. The Case and Memoirs of the Late Rev. Mr. James Hackman, And of His Acquaintance with the Late Miss Martha Reay: With a Commentary on His Conviction, Distinguishing Between His Crime in Particular, And That of Others Who have been Condemned for Murder. And Also, Some Thoughts on Lunacy and Suicide. Dedicated to Lord S-. To Which is Added, A Letter to Lord S- and Miss Reay. With an Appendix, On the Ill Effects of Public Offices of Justices of the Peace. London: Printed for G. Kearsly, 1779. vii, [1], 16, [2], 17-34, [2], viii pp. With a frontispiece portrait of James Hackman, rebound before half-title. Octavo (8" x 5"). Stab-stitched pamphlet bound in recent marbled boards, edges speckled red. Light toning to interior, faint offsetting to last three leaves, small hole to half-title not affecting text, partial early ownership signature dated 1779 to its upper right corner. $450. * Fourth edition. Ray (or Reay) was a singer and the mistress of the Earl of Sandwich, to whom she bore nine children. She had a short-lived affair with James Hackman, a soldier turned minister. When she broke the affair off, Hackman remained obsessively infatuated and continued to pursue her. He came to believe that she had taken another lover and murdered her and attempted to shoot himself. This failed and he was hanged at Tyburn. Questions as to his sanity at the time of the crime inspired this sympathetic pamphlet, which includes an apology for his character and an appendix lamenting the abuses of the press and the "arrogant conduct" of justices of the peace. It went through nine editions (some re-issues with new title pages), all in 1779. OCLC locates 3 copies of the fourth edition in North America (Library of Congress, University of Georgia, Western University). English Short-Title Catalogue T63619.