Trial, Execution, And Confession of the Burkers, On Monday..

1831. London: J. V. Quick; and Sold by J. Pitts, [1831].. London: J. V. Quick; and Sold by J. Pitts, [1831]. The Trial and Execution of the "London Burkers" [Broadside]. [Executions]. Bishop, John [d.1831]. Williams, Thomas [d.1831]. May, [James]. Trial, Execution, And Confession of the Burkers, On Monday, December 5th, 1831 for the Murder of Charles Fariere, An Italian Boy. [London]: Printed by J[ohn] V[andenburg] Quick, 42, Bowling Green Lane, Clerkenwell; And Sold by J. Pitts, Great St. Andrew Street, 7 Dials, [1831]. 15" x 10" (38 x 25.5 cm) broadside, text in three columns below headline and three woodcut vignettes of the defendants. Light browning, minor edgewear, a few faint stains, horizontal and vertical fold lines with slight creasing along them, clean tear to central horizontal fold affecting text without loss to legibility. $1,750. * Known as the "London Burkers," Bishop, May and Williams were body snatchers whose activities recalled those of the murderous Edinburgh "resurrection men" William Burke and William Hare. Not content to limit themselves to exhumed corpses, they also lured people to their home and then drugged and murdered them in their sleep. Their career came to an end in early November, 1831, with the "Italian Boy Murder," so called because people assumed the victim was an Italian child who had been recently reported as missing. While attempting to sell the body, the anatomist determined that it showed no signs of burial. He initiated an investigation, which led to the discovery of the murder, evidence of other murders and the December 3, 1831 conviction of all three men. Bishop and Williams were sentenced to hang and May was sentenced to transportation to Van Diemen's Land. This sensational event received a great deal of attention in the serious and popular media of the day. The language of our broadside assumes that the reader is familiar with the case. It records the events of the trial and execution, along with a purported letter from Williams to his wife and seven stanzas of verse. OCLC locates 1 copy of this rare broadside (Harvard Law School). No copies added by Library Hub, or by our searches of institutional catalogues.