A Narrative of the Trial, Together with the Last Dying Words, Speech.

1810. Unrecorded. Unrecorded. Only Known Copy: "A Very Improper Situation Upon the Body of the Deceased" [Broadside]. [Execution]. Beaumont, Joshua [d.1810]. A Narrative of the Trial, Together with the Last Dying Words, Speech, And Confession of Joshua Beaumont, Who was Executed on the Drop Behind the Castle of York, On Wednesday the 15th Day of August, 1810, For the Murder of Lucy Brooke. Leicester: From W. Storry's, Copy York; Reprinted by Pares, 1810. 12-1/4" x 8" broadside, on thin paper, text in two columns below woodcut vignette of execution and headline. Light browning and soiling, several horizontal creases, three small dampstains to bottom edge below text. $1,850. * This broadside records an especially brutal example of an acquaintance rape that ended in murder, and possibly necrophilia. When Brooke, 56, a widow and schoolteacher, resisted Beaumont, 23, a laborer, he beat her and proceeded to rape her. It is unclear whether she died during or shortly after the assault. According to the broadside, a neighbor, who was alerted by "the mournful groan of a woman," came to the scene, where he found Beaumont "in a very improper situation upon the body of the deceased. (Any further particulars for delicacy's sake, we have thought it necessary and proper to omit.)" The broadside's title is misleading. It is essentially a narrative of the murder with a brief account of the trial and execution. It does not have a "speech," "confession" or "last dying words." This broadside is rare and appears to be unrecorded. No copies located on OCLC or Library Hub.