Trial of the Case of the Commonwealth versus David Lee Child, for publishing ... a libel of the Honorable John Keyes ....

Boston: Dutton & Wentworth, 1829. First Edition.. Disbound.. Very good; light spotting to the title page.. 8vo, 119, [1] pp.

Child - printer and abolitionist - accused Keyes - a State Senator - of corruption in the award of printing contracts for the printing of official documents of the state of Massachusetts. He was charged with criminal libel. The jury found Child guilty despite his counsel's eloquent defense of freedom of the press: public officials may not "entrench themselves behind" coercive legal "barriers when their public administration is called into question. It is not for them to close the door against official investigation, or check the spirit of free inquiry into public abuses, by threatening to bring down the strong arm of the law upon all who" criticize them. The trial also offers a good deal of particular information on the business practices of the print trade at this time and about printing. McCoy C-318; S & S #40671; Sabin #12702.