The Trial of Charles Angus, Esq, On an Indictment for the Wilful.. by Trial; Angus, Charles, Defendant - 1808

1808. Scarce Trial Involving Poison, Abortion and Murder [Trial]. Angus, Charles, Defendant. Jones, William, Jr., Reporter. The Trial of Charles Angus, Esq., On an Indictment for the Wilful Murder of Margaret Burns, At the Assizes Held at Lancaster, On Friday, 2d Sept. 1808. Before the Hon. Sir Alan Chambre, One of the Justices of His Majesty's Court of Common Pleas. Taken in Short Hand. Liverpool: Printed by William Jones, [1808]. [iv], 288 pp. Octavo (8" x 5"). Recent period-style quarter calf over marbled boards, raised bands and gilt title to spine, endpapers renewed. Moderate toning to text, occasional light soiling, early owner inscription (of a private library) to title page. $950. * Only edition. This trial was one of the first to feature forensic medical testimony. Angus was charged with murder after assisting his lover, Margaret Burns with an abortion. They used "corrosive sublimate of Mercury," which killed the fetus, and Margaret. Angus was acquitted after a trial rich in lurid detail. (For example, the acid burned a large hole through her abdomen.) The publisher, who also recorded the trial in shorthand, clearly hoped to profit from the scandalous nature of the trial. Whatever commercial success this publication may have had, it is an interesting trial that tells us much about the status of women in northern Britain in the early nineteenth century. OCLC locates 6 copies in North American law libraries (Library of Congress, LA County Law Library, Social Law, University of Minnesota, University of Virginia, Yale, York University).