Trial of Henry B. Hagerman, Esq., On an Indictment for an Assault..

1818. A Near-Fatal Response to Negative Criticism [Trial]. Hagerman, Henry B. [1786-1853], Defendant. Bacon, David, Reporter. Trial of Henry B. Hagerman, Esq., On an Indictment for an Assault and Battery, With Intent to Murder, Committed on William Coleman, Esq., Editor of the N.Y. Evening Post. Taken in Short Hand by David Bacon. New York: Printed by Oram and Mott, 1818. 68 pp. Octavo (8-1/4" x 5-1/4"). Disbound stab-stitched pamphlet. Moderate toning, light foxing to most of text, small embossed library stamp to final leaf, chips to both of its outside corners, small de-accession ink stamp (of the Long Island Historical Society) to title page, small chip to its lower outside corner. An appealing copy of an uncommon title. $750. * Only edition. Coleman [1766-1829] was the editor of Alexander Hamilton's newspaper The New York Evening Post (now the New York Post), which opposed to New York's Democratic Party. Shortly after he published a highly critical article about Hagerman, a prominent Democrat and state official, he was surprised and viciously beaten by Hagerman on a city street. Coleman's recovery took weeks and he suffered bouts of paralysis for the rest of his life. Hagerman pleaded guilty to assault and battery and not guilty to the charge of attempted murder. He was fined and acquitted on the murder charge. In a later civil suit he was ordered to pay Coleman $4,000., a notably large award for that time. OCLC locates 8 copies in law libraries (Baylor, Columbia, Harvard, Library of Congress, LA County Law Library, Social Law, University of Minnesota, U.S. Supreme Court). Cohen, Bibliography of Early American Law 13829.