Proceedings in an Action for Debt, Between the Right Honorable..

1792. An Important 1792 Trial Related to an Election From the Library of Anne Renier [Trial]. Tooke, John Horne [1736-1812], Defendant. Fox, Charles James [1749-1806], Plaintiff. Johnson, Joseph [1738-1809], Publisher. Proceedings in an Action for Debt, Between the Right Honorable Charles James Fox, Plaintiff, And John Horne Tooke, Esq. Defendant. Published by the Defendant. London: Printed for and Sold by the Booksellers, 1792. 39, [1] pp. Octavo (8-1/4" x 5-1/4"). Disbound stab-stitched pamphlet. Moderate toning, light foxing, light rubbing to extremities, final two leaves partially detached, owner name "Renier" to verso of title page, owner initials "AR" to verso of final leaf. $250. * First edition, one of two issues from 1792. This was a legally and politically important trial. Tooke, one of the great English radicals of the period, opposed Fox in the Westminster elections of 1790. Defeated by a large majority, he petitioned the House of Commons for redress based on allegations of riotous conduct by the electors. The action was declared frivolous and Tooke was sued by Fox for ?198 damage. To make matters worse, under the 1789 law against vexatious suits, Tooke was held liable as well for costs. The trial, heard before Lord Kenyon, gave Tooke a platform from which he condemned Parliamentary corruption and spoke eloquently against the severe limitations imposed upon juries in this and other trials of a similar nature--from a legal point of view perhaps the most interesting feature of the trial. Counsel for Fox was Thomas Erskine. Despite its topicality, this pamphlet had an unusually long history; it was re-issued in 1793, 1812, 1815 and 1819. This copy belonged to Anne Renier [1911?-1988]. She and her husband, Fernand Gabriel Renier [1905-1988], were important collectors of popular books, pamphlets and ephemera. English Short-Title Catalogue N11983.