Crim Con œ10,000 Damages Smeeton's Edition of the Trial Between..

1808. Rare Trial Account With a Frontispiece by Isaac and George Cruikshank [Trial]. Paget, Sir Arthur [1771-1840], Defendant. Cruikshank, Isaac [1789-1856], Frontispiece. Cruikshank, George [1792-1878], Frontispiece. Crim. Con. ?10,000 Damages. Smeeton's Edition of the Trial Between the Right Hon. Lord Borringdon and Sir A. Paget, K.B. For Criminal Conversation with the Plaintiff's Wife. Which was Tried in the Sheriffs' Court, Before W. Burchall, Esq. And a Special Jury, July 19, 1808. Taken in Short Hand. London: Published by G. Smeeton, 18, James Street, Long Acre, [1808]. 16 pp. Etched copperplate frontispiece by Isaac Cruikshank, assisted by George Cruikshank. Octavo (8-1/2" x 5-1/4"). Stab-stitched pamphlet bound into contemporary (or near-contemporary) flexible cloth, gilt title to front cover, frontispiece and several leaves re-hinged. Light rubbing to extremities, bookplate of Fernand Gabriel and Anne Renier to front pastedown, early owner inscription ("Walter Scott His Book/ July 29, 1808") to verso of frontispiece. Crack in text block between frontispiece and title page, which is lightly soiled, moderate toning to interior, light foxing to first half of text block. $950. * A rare account of one of the great scandals of the day, which involved two well-known aristocrats who were active politicians. The criminal conversation occurred in 1808 when Paget eloped with Lady Augusta Fane, then the wife of John Parker [1772-1840], 2nd Baron Boringdon (or Borringdon). Paget married her the following year, two days after her divorce was granted. The Walter Scott who owned this copy was not the Scottish author. Fernand Gabriel and Anne Renier were important collectors of popular printed material. Rare. OCLC locates 1 copy (Harvard). No copies listed on Library Hub. Cohn, George Cruikshank: A Catalogue Raisonne 85.