Bound collection of six 18th century pamphlets relating to the trials of Mary Blandy and Elizabeth Jeffries

[Blandy, Mary; Jeffries, Elizabeth]

Edité par Oxford and London, 1751

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Sammelband of works on the trials of two renowned women: Mary Blandy and Elizabeth Jeffries, for murder in mid 18th century Britain

[Blandy, Mary; Jeffries, Elizabeth]. Bound collection of six 18th century pamphlets relating to the trials of Mary Blandy and Elizabeth Jeffries, published in Oxford and London, between c.1751-1752. 8vo. Six volumes bound together, with engravings inserted between the volumes. Nineteenth century half calf over marbled boards.

A fascinating collection of works on the famous trials of Mary Blandy for the murder of her father and Elizabeth Jeffries for that of her uncle by her lover, John Swann. Both trials generated a great amount of public interest in mid-18th century Britain and sensationalised accounts such as these provide a valuable insight into the manner in which women who committed crimes were perceived. Moreover, the collection includes the testimony of the women themselves and detailed descriptions of their trials.

Mary Blandy's trial was notable both for the huge amount of public interest it generated and as an example of the early use of scientific evidence to establish guilt, namely, the testing of the arsenic package (Farmer, 2008). She was tried and found guilty for murdering her father by poisining with arsenic in order to obtain his purported fortune of £10,000. Francis Blandy refused to provide for his daughter in marriage insisting that she would only inherit his fortune on his death. Hoping to marry her lover Captain William Cranstoun, the son of a Scottish lord, Mary began to lace her father's tea with arsenic from June 1751, according to Mary's account, at Cranstoun's instigation and believing it to be a 'love powder' which would persuade her father to look favourably on the match. After her father's death, Mary, who had been seen mixing something into her father's oatmeal, was arrested and, while Mary had burnt her correspondence with Cranstoun, fragments of a package containing arsenic were salvaged by the servants, and an apparently incriminating letter she had sent to her lover intercepted. Her trial provided an early example of the use of scientific evidence to establish guilt and involved the testing of arsenic by medical investigators.

She was found guilty by the jury within five minutes but public opinion was divided over the case as it was considered unnatural for an accomplished and educated woman to consider murder.

Elizabeth Jeffries, on the other hand, was not considered as privileged as Mary Blandy, the murder of her uncle was another sensational trial, mostly because it involved a young woman, a lover, and a murdered family member. She had been adopted at a young age by her uncle who began abusing her when she turned fifteen, including forcing an abortion on her when she became pregnant. Learning that he had made a will in her favour, she promised John Swann, who was in service to her uncle, that she would marry him once her uncle was dead. The tragic circumstances of her childhood provided lurid elements to her story but also generated sympathy in the printed tracts. These, nonetheless, condemned her actions and focused largely on her voracious appetites, mostly when it came to sex, drinking and gambling.

Full description available upon request.

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Détails bibliographiques

• Titre: Bound collection of six 18th century pamphlets relating to the trials of Mary Blandy and Elizabeth Jeffries
• Éditeur: Oxford and London
• Date de parution: 1751
• État de l'article: Bon