FOUR SEPARATE IMPRINTS, BOUND TOGETHER, RELATING TO THE TRIAL OF CHARLES ANGUS ON AN INDICTMENT FOR THE WILFUL MURDER OF MARGARET BURNS

Liverpool, 1809. Four imprints in contemporary binding [hinges cracked, extremities rubbed]. Light to moderate foxing throughout. Good+.

1. THE TRIAL OF CHARLES ANGUS, ESQ. ON AN INDICTMENT FOR THE WILFUL MURDER OF MARGARET BURNS, AT THE ASSIZES HELD AT LANCASTER, ON FRIDAY, 2D SEPT. 1808, BEFORE THE HON. SIR. ALAN CHAMBRE, ONE OF THE JUSTICES OF HIS MAJESTY'S COURT OF COMMON PLEAS. TAKEN IN SHORT HAND BY WILLIAM JONES, JUN. Liverpool: Printed by William Jones. . . [1808]. [4], 288 pp. Last page dirty but legible.
2. A VINDICATION OF THE OPINIONS DELIVERED IN EVIDENCE BY THE MEDICAL WITNESSES FOR THE CROWN, ON A LATE TRIAL AT LANCASTER, FOR MURDER. Liverpool: Printed by and for W. Jones. . . 1808. [5], 8-88 pp. Upper blank corners heavily browned.
3. Carson, James: REMARKS ON A LATE PUBLICATION, ENTITLED "A VINDICATION OF THE OPINIONS DELIVERED IN EVIDENCE BY THE MEDICAL WITNESSES FOR THE CROWN, ON A LATE TRIAL AT LANCASTER." BY JAMES CARSON, M.D. Liverpool: Printed by W. Jones. . . 1808. [3], 8-136 pp. Upper blank corners browned.
4. Campbell, D.: REFLECTIONS OCCASIONED BY THE PERUSAL OF A PAMPHLET, ENTITLED, A VINDICATION OF THE OPINIONS DELIVERED BY THE MEDICAL WITNESSES FOR THE CROWN, (THE PROSECUTION) ON A LATE TRIAL AT LANCASTER. BY D. CAMPBELL, M.D. Liverpool: Printed by W. Jones. . . 1809. 53, [1] pp.

A "hole in the stomach" killed Margaret Burns. Did Angus cause her death, by deliberately giving her a "solution of corrosive sublimate of Mercury" to drink? Or, as Angus alleged, did Margaret suffer from a chronic "obstruction in her female evacuations," which, when treated, did "rupture the coats of her stomach"? Much medical controversy accompanied the verdict: NOT GUILTY.
"In a case that aroused much controversy, in September 1808, Liverpool merchant Charles Angus was accused of poisoning Margaret Burns, his deceased wife's half-sister and his children's governess. Burns was believed to be pregnant at the time of her death and Angus was charged with attempting to induce an abortion through the use of oil of Savin, a poison. Medical experts testified that, upon autopsy, no significant amount of the poison could be found in the body. Angus was found not guilty" [online site, National Library of Medicine].