Trial of Henry Phillips for the Murder of Gaspard Dennegri, 1817

1817. Boston: Thomas G. Bangs, (1817)].. Boston: Thomas G. Bangs, (1817)]. Fatally Struck by a Loggerhead: McDade 746 [Trial]. Phillips, Henry [d.1817]. Trial of Henry Phillips for the Murder of Gaspard Dennegri [sic]. Supreme Judicial Court, Boston, January 9, 1817 [Caption Title]. [(Boston): Printed by Thomas G. Bangs, (1817)]. 24 pp. Octavo (8-3/4" x 5"; 22.2 x 12.7 cm). Stab-stitched pamphlet in plain wrappers. Chipping and a few tears to edges, upper section lacking from rear wrapper. Moderate toning and light foxing to interior, faint dampstaining in a few places. $850. * Only edition. "Denegri was struck on the head by a loggerhead during a minor disturbance at a tavern. Today the circumstances would at the most be considered manslaughter, but poor Phillips was found guilty of murder and hanged" (McDade). This was despite the best efforts of his defense counsel, Lemuel Shaw [1781-1861], whom Phillips asked be assigned to his case. After his years in private practice, Shaw would go on to an estimable career as a politician and judge. During his tenure as chief justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, American law was still actively being formed, and Shaw's influence on American common law was considerable. Leonard W. Levy considered him arguably "America's greatest magistrate." OCLC locates 9 copies, 2 in law libraries (Library of Congress, Social Law). Levy, "Lemuel Shaw: America's Greatest Magistrate," 7 Vill. L. Rev. 389 (1962). McDade, The Annals of Murder 746.