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[Ireland, Thomas] (attributed).
West Port Murders; Or an Authentic Account of the Atrocious Murders Committed by Burke and his Associates... Also, a Report of the Trial... Illustrated by Portraits and Views.
Publisher: Thomas Ireland, Junior, Edinburgh;
Date of Publication: 1829
Stock Code: 9507
FIRST EDITION. Small quarto (5.5” x 8.5”), all edges uncut; pp. iv, 362. With eight engraved plates including portrait frontispiece of William Burke as called for. Recently rebound in brown full calf with blind fillet borders and centrepiece ornaments to boards, 4 raised bands to spine, scarlet morocco spine label with gilt spine title, leaves uncut. Small closed tear to frontispiece (repaired) plus two or three short closed tears in text, a few small nicks to leaves, mild scattered foxing throughout. An sympathetically rebound copy in fine condition. The first and most comprehensive book on the infamous body-snatching serial killers William Burke (1792-1829) and William Hare, being published in the same year as the trial and execution, for a British audience eager for the macabre details of the sensationalist case. The authorship has been attributed to the publisher, Thomas Ireland, with the help of various contemporary sources. Contains dramatic trial reports, confessions, crime scene illustrations, a harrowing description of Burke’s execution, phrenological measurements, and descriptions of Burke’s public dissection “The quantity of blood that gushed out was enormous [that...] the classroom had the appearance of a butcher’s slaughterhouse, from its flowing down and being trodden upon”. Cheaply printed on rag pulp paper, copies tend not to have survived; those that are found in commerce are either ex-library, foxed or as here, rebound. Certainly not one for the squeamish but a significant book for true crime enthusiasts and social historians. Rare. £575.00