Patch Richard Defendant (4 results)

8vo., pp. xvi, 194, [2], with half-title, portraits of Patch (stained) and of the servant Esther Kitchener, both drawn in court, a folding view and ground plan of Mr. Blight's house with handwritten (or lithographed?) key, and a facsimile of a letter from the sheriff to the stationer Jeffery; a little soiling, some marginal pencilling, untrimmed; late nineteenth-century half roan and marbled boards, spine and joints overlaid with clear tape (not nice); bookplate and stamps of the Law Library of Los Angeles County.First edition of this report of a famous trial (there was a rival version from the shorthand of Joseph and W. B. Gurney). Richard Patch (1770?-1806) was an unsuccessful farmer near Exeter who mortgaged his farms in 1803 and departed to London, where he entered the service of Isaac Blight, a ship-breaker in Rotherhithe. When Blight's financial circumstances became embarrassed he conveyed his property to Patch to protect himself from his creditors and they entered into a partnership agreement. Patch was to pay £1250 for his share of the partnership, £250 from the sale of his farms and a further £1000 by 23 September 1805, a sum that he knew he had no means to obtain.On the evening of 23rd September a shot was heard and Blight, drowsing in the back parlour, was badly wounded, dying the next morning. Patch tried to create an alibi by slamming a door to convince the servant Esther Kitchener that he was in the privy at the time of the murder. The week before, already laying his plans, he had fired at the front parlour from the garden to suggest that there was a stranger outside gunning for Blight. Despite this subterfuge he was convicted on very strong circumstantial evidence including stockings muddied from the wharf when he threw the pistol into the river. Passing sentence the Lord Chief Baron told Patch: 'you began this practice in fraud, continued it in ingratitude, and completed it by shedding the blood of your friend and benefactor.' Patch was hanged in Southwark outside the new prison in Horsemonger Lane.The case excited great interest and the trial was attended by a throng of titled individuals, including the royal dukes of Cumberland and Sussex. Language: English.

London: M. Gurney, Bookseller, Holborn-Hill, 1806. (illustrator). London: M. Gurney, Bookseller, Holborn-Hill, 1806. With an Interesting Manuscript Note [Trial]. Patch, Richard, Defendant [c.1770-1806]. Gurney, Joseph [1744-1815], Reporter. Gurney, W[illiam] B[rodie] [1777-1855], Reporter. The Trial of Richard Patch for the Wilful Murder of Isaac Blight, At Rotherhithe, On the 23d of September, 1805. At the Session House, Newington, Surrey, On Saturday the Fifth of April, 1806. Taken in Short-Hand. London: Sold by M. Gurney, Bookseller, Holborn-Hill, 1806. 197, [3] pp. Folding frontispiece ("Plan of the Premises of the Late Mr. Blight"). Publisher advertisement to verso of final leaf. Octavo (8" x 5"; 20.25 x 12.5 cm). Recent cloth, gilt title and publication date to spine, marbled edges, endpapers renewed. A few faint finger smudges, spine ends lightly bumped. Moderate toning and light foxing to interior, a few creases, and short tears and a corner fold to frontispiece, later manuscript leaf in a neat hand affixed to its verso. A very good copy. $250. * Second and final edition, of two issues. Patch, the eldest son of a smuggler, had been forced to mortgage his Exeter farm and subsequently fled to London in order to dodge his creditors. While there, he met Blight, a ship-breaker, who proposed that he become a partner in the business. Patch agreed, but lacked the money to pay for his share and killed Blight instead. In passing sentence, the judge told Patch: "you began this practice in fraud, continued it in ingratitude, and completed it by shedding the blood of your friend and benefactor." The long manuscript note on the affixed leaf discusses whether "the proposed change [allowing the Defence of Prisoners by Counsel] is not needed" with reference to this case. Its author rejects this proposal. The note concludes with a reference to the Second Report of the Royal Commission on the Criminal Law (1836). The first Gurney edition was published in 1805 and reissued in 1806. British Museum Catalogue (Compact Edition) 11:313.

London, 1806. Second ed. Edward Mangin's copy. (illustrator). London, 1806. Second ed. Edward Mangin's copy. With Interesting Manuscript Commentary by a Notable Irish Writer [Trial]. [Great Britain]. Patch, Richard, Defendant [c.1770-1806]. The Trial of Richard Patch, For the Wilful Murder of Mr. Isaac Blight, September 23, 1805, At Rotherhithe, In the County of Surry; Before the Right Hon. Sir A. Macdonald, Knt. Lord Chief Baron of His Majesty's Court of Exchequer; At the Sessions House, Newington; On Saturday, April 5, 1806. London: Printed, By the Express Appointment of the Sheriff, For Edward Jeffery, 1806. xvi, 194 pp. With 5 plates, including 3 portraits, a facsimile of a letter, and a folding illustration. Octavo (8-1/4" x 4-3/4"). Marbled wrappers. Light edgewear with slight chipping to top-edge and small tear to fore-edge of rear wrapper. Light toning to interior, light foxing in a few places. Ownership signature to head of title page of Edward Mangin, dated May 10, 1831, annotation in his hand to front free endpaper. An interesting association copy. $950. * Second edition. Patch, the eldest son of a smuggler, had been forced to mortgage his Exeter farm and subsequently fled to London in order to dodge his creditors. While there, he met Blight, a ship-breaker, who proposed that he become a partner in the business. Patch agreed, but lacked the money to pay for his share and killed Blight instead. In passing sentence, the judge told Patch: "you began this practice in fraud, continued it in ingratitude, and completed it by shedding the blood of your friend and benefactor." This item appears to have been extracted from a bound volume owned by Edward Mangin [1772-1852], an Irish writer, translator and cleric. The lengthy note to the front free endpaper concerns the case of Elizabeth Fenning, a domestic servant accused of murdering her employer whose trial and execution became a national cause celebre. Many believed Fenning innocent, among them Charles Dickens. Mangin remarks that Fenning was "the victim of the combined wickedness & obscenity of her prosecutors; [.] the brutality and filthy national prejudices of a rabble jury; and the infamous scribbling of a time-serving, prostitute villain, the editor of the Sunday Observer newspaper." The notes are likely based on a copy of The Important Results of an Elaborate Investigation into the Mysterious Case of Eliza Fenning (1815) and reference an article written b.

First Edition. "Not a Soul We Believe Can Lament his Fate" [Trial]. Patch, Richard, Defendant [c.1770-1806]. Trial of R. Patch, For the Murder of Isaac Blight, Ship-Breaker of Rotherhithe, In the County of Surry. Tried at Horsemonger-Lane, In the Borough of Southwark, Before the Lord Chief Baron Sir Archibald Mac Donald, And a Respectable Jury of the County of Surry. Guilty-Death. London: Printed by Dewick and Clarke for T. Hughes and Crosby & Co., 1806. 34, [2] pp. With a final advertisement leaf. Octavo (7-1/4" x 4-1/2"). Disbound stab-stitched pamphlet, fore and bottom edges untrimmed. Light toning, occasional light soiling to edges. Housed in lightly rubbed 8" x 5" three-quarter morocco folder and plain slipcase. $350. * First edition. Patch, the eldest son of a smuggler, had been forced to mortgage his Exeter farm and subsequently fled to London in order to dodge his creditors. While there, he met Blight, a ship-breaker, who proposed that he become a partner in the business. Patch agreed, but lacked the money to pay for his share and killed Blight instead. Despite many attempts to conceal the crime, he was convicted on strong circumstantial evidence in 1806. A second edition of our account appeared later in 1806 with additional material and a frontispiece. It is unclear whether our first edition was issued with a frontispiece, though the copy at the Library of Congress has one. No records note the final advertisement leaf present in our copy. OCLC and Library Hub locate 3 copies of the first edition worldwide (Library of Congress, University of Leeds, Bishopsgate Institute).