The Trial and Life and Confessions of John F. Van Patten... Murder

1825. New York, 1825. 16 pp. McDade 1020. Cohen 13136. New York, 1825. 16 pp. McDade 1020. Cohen 13136. He Shot Her in the Back: McDade 1020 [Trial]. Van Patten, John F. [1801-1825], Defendant. The Trial and Life and Confessions of John F. Van Patten, Who was Indicted, Tried, And Convicted of the Murder of Mrs. Maria Schermerhorn, On the 4th of October Last, And Sentenced to be Executed on the 25th February, 1825. New York: S.n., 1825. 16 pp. Octavo (8-1/2" x 5-1/4"; 21.6 x 13.3 cm). Stab-stitched pamphlet in self wrappers, woodcut execution vignette to front wrapper, untrimmed edges. Moderate toning and dampspotting, faint dampstaining to margins of a few leaves, lower outside corner lacking from leaf containing pp. 5-6, text not affected, ink smudge to p. 11, legibility not affected. $1,250. * Only edition. "Van Patten was courting a girl and Mrs. Schermerhorn cautioned her against marrying him; as a result her parents forbade his suit. Borrowing a shotgun from a neighbor, he called on Mrs. Schermerhorn in Rotterdam, New York; while she was going upstairs to get some wadding he requested, he shot her in the back" (McDade). Our copy is one of the three accounts of this case. All are scarce. OCLC locates 3 copies of our imprint in law libraries (Harvard, Library of Congress, Yale). McDade, The Annals of Murder 1020. Cohen, Bibliography of Early American Law 13136.