SHAWMUT EDITION. THE DALTON DIVORCE CASE. DOMESTIC DISSENSIONS IN FASHIONABLE LIFE. EXPOSITION OF GALLANTRY, GAIETY, GUILT, AND GUTTA-PERCHA. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS, WITH ALL THE EVIDENCE IN THIS MOST EXCITING AND REMARKABLE CASE

[Dalton Divorce Case]

Published by Published under the Copyright of the, [Boston], 1857

About this Item

47, [1] pp. Stitched, Portrait of Ms. Dalton elegantly attired, "From a Daguerreotype by Horton." Untrimmed. Margins of title page, page 3, and page [48] stained. Else a clean text. Good plus. Back in the days before no-fault divorce, the dissolution of a marriage could involve major litigation. For the unhappily married who were wealthy, the services of top-flight attorneys were often called upon. In this one Rufus Choate and H.F. Durant, representing Mrs. Dalton, opposed Richard Henry Dana, who represented her husband, B. Frank Dalton. Particularly when, as here, the divorce involved upper class Bostonians who had been involved in sensational and salacious activity, much public interest was stimulated. Mrs. Dalton engaged, her lawyers say, in an emphatically platonic friendship with William Sumner. Regrettably her brother-in-law advised Mr. Dalton that the relationship was far more intimate. Dalton murdered Sumner and brought this action to divorce his young, innocent wife. Much dirty laundry is aired in this made-for-the-tabloids litigation. Choate's work in this case was "one of his most celebrated defenses" [Vile: I Great American Lawyers: An Encyclopedia, page 110]. For killing Sumner, a cousin of Senator Charles Sumner, Dalton was convicted of a lesser offense after a jury trial and was sentenced to a few months in prison. Cohen 11429. OCLC 476462833 [2- NYHS, Duke] as of September 2025.

Seller Inventory # 41271

Bibliographic Details

• Title: SHAWMUT EDITION. THE DALTON DIVORCE CASE. DOMESTIC DISSENSIONS IN FASHIONABLE LIFE. EXPOSITION OF GALLANTRY, GAIETY, GUILT, AND GUTTA-PERCHA. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS, WITH ALL THE EVIDENCE IN THIS MOST EXCITING AND REMARKABLE CASE
• Publisher: Published under the Copyright of the, [Boston]
• Publication Date: 1857
• Seller catalogs:
  • LAW
  • CRIME
  • NEW YORK
  • MASSACHUSETTS
  • AMERICANA