A Full Report of the Trial of Samuel Cook, Draper, Dudley, For..

1827. Dudley, 1827. McCoy, Freedom of the Press. Dudley, 1827. McCoy, Freedom of the Press. A Draper is Charged with Seditious Libel for Displaying a Strike Notice in His Shop Window [Trial]. Cook, Samuel [1786-1861], Defendant. A Full Report of the Trial of Samuel Cook, Draper, Dudley, For an Alleged Seditious Libel, Tried at Worcester, Aug. 1, 1827, Before Mr. Justice Littledale. Taken in Short Hand by an Eminent Writer. Dudley [Worcestershire, Eng.]: Sold by S. Cook, Draper, 1827. [ii], 72 pp. Octavo (8-1/4" x 5-1/4"). Stab-stitched pamphlet bound into period-style quarter morocco over marbled boards by Philip Dusel, gilt titles and ornaments to spine, endpapers renewed. Light toning to text, somewhat heavier in places, "4" in early hand to head of title page. $850. * First edition, one of two from 1827. Cook, a linen draper and the "radical conscience of middle-class Dudley," frequently displayed posters promoting various political events and made his business "the focal point of radicalism in the Black Country" (ODNB). In 1826, he was charged with seditious libel for displaying a handbill promoting a nailers' strike that accused government ministers of contributing to the starvation of the people. He was found guilty but received a relatively light sentence of a ?100 fine and a ?200 bond. He published this pamphlet to raise money for his legal expenses. A note at the foot of p. 72 appeals for additional financial assistance: "S. Cook will be happy to receive any Subscriptions towards his late expenses, and towards such subsequent proceedings as may be deemed requisite." A second edition with an identical page count may have been published the same year. OCLC and Library Hub locate 4 copies of both editions, 2 in North America (Duke, Southern Illinois University). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (accessed online). McCoy, Freedom of the Press (Supplement) IC318.