FAMOUS CRIMES: Charles Peace, execution, poison

FAMOUS CRIMES: Charles Peace, execution, poison, jtr

Here is a reprint of the very rare classic true-crime paper from 1902: Famous Crimes Past and Present.

It has 24 pages, is black and white throughout, and is comb bound with a card back and a plastic front cover.

This one is number 6 and the cover features Charles Peace on the scaffold.

The first six pages deal with Charles Peace. Prior to Jack the Ripper, Peace was the most notorious villain of the Victorian period. These pages show Peace as he awaits his execution with excellent illustrations.

Three pages are given on poisoning with mercury, featuring Dr Smethurst, and an astonishing mention of feeding on corpses.

Two pages are given to “The Resurrectionists”, the name given to people who dug up the recently dead to sell the bodies to anatomists and doctors. There is mention of Burke and Hare (see my other eBay sales), Guy’s Hospital, and others. A haunting illustration shows the Resurrectionists at work.

Four pages are devoted to the mystery of Louise Masset, the first person to be hanged in 20th Century Britain, for the murder of her child.

Over two pages are given to an article “In Times of Torture”, which shows the history of torture instruments from the “Catherine’s Wheel” and red hot pincer, to the iron chair. For each there appears a line drawing and an explanation of its use.

One page is given on the "Tragedy of Ireland's Eye", a murder on a small island off Ireland's coast.

After a short article on executions in Rome, three pages are given on Sarah Dazley, whom Famous Crimes terms “the female Blue Beard”; she poisoned her husbands.

Following this, there is an article on Allan Mair who murdered his wife and was sent to the gallows at the age of 84. The public execution shows a masked executioner, a priest, a policeman and a doctor, with a crowd of onlookers. Mair’s final moments were not particularly pleasant as he struggled with the noose around his neck.

The back page takes a less tabloid approach and a view from a moral high ground: An essay on Criminal Problems – Environment a cause of crime?

Famous Crimes was a penny journal. It was published from 1902 and became an instant hit with its sensational journalism and gruesome illustrations. The illustrations really are superb.

Please see my other sales for other Famous Crimes including Guy Fawkes and Burke and Hare.

FAMOUS CRIMES: Arrest of Guy Fawkes

FAMOUS CRIMES: Arrest of Guy Fawkes

Here is a reprint of the classic true-crime serial from 1903: Famous Crimes Past and Present.

It has 24 pages, is black and white throughout, and is comb-bound with a card back and a plastic front cover.

This one is number 39 and the cover shows the arrest of Guy Fawkes, arguably the most famous British criminal of all time.

The first ten pages deal with the Gunpowder Plot, alongside the famous Guy Fawkes, we learn of Gatesby, Mounteagle, Leigh, Winter, Wright and others. The article contains eight superb illustrations.

Following this there is a three-page article on poison titled “The Mystery of Madeleine Smith” appears, containing three illustrations.

A two page story on the first bank note forgery appears, followed by “The Ways of The Criminal”, an article that shows how criminals steal luggage, both informing the reader of how to avoid luggage theft (and no doubt educating a would-be thief too!).

Two pages are given to “The Murder of Moyse” with an illustration of Moyse, the Liverpool bookseller.

Following this, an article on a noble dog “The Dog of Montargis” is given which is a French legend along the lines of Greyfriars Bobby. A page from this article is to the left.

The moral article on Criminal Problems focuses on Prison Personnel. The inside back page gives the story of William Patterson whose mistreatment of his wife led to her death and his execution.

This issue also contains many adverts from the Edwardian period including pills to help grow a moustache, pills to reduce fatness, cure for hair problems and blushing, and improved health with ‘Bile Beans’.

Famous Crimes was a penny journal. It was published from 1902 and became an instant hit with its sensational journalism and gruesome illustrations. The illustrations really are superb.

Please see my other sales for other Famous Crimes including Charles Peace and Burke and Hare.

FAMOUS CRIMES: Burke and Hare

FAMOUS CRIMES: Burke and Hare, Edinburgh crime

Here is a reprint of the classic true crime serial from 1902: Famous Crimes Past and Present.

It has 24 pages, is black and white throughout, and is comb bound with a card back and a plastic front cover.

This one is number 12 and the cover features ‘Helen McDougal pouring whiskey down the victim’s throat’, an episode from the Burke and Hare crimes in Edinburgh from 1828-29.

The first eight pages deal with Burke and Hare. In the 1820s criminals would dig up graves, stealing the bodies to sell to anatomists and medical schools. Burke and Hare cut out the middle man (ie natural death itself) and murdered sixteen people, selling the bodies to Dr Knox a famous Edinburgh doctor.

Although part two of the story, this deals with all of the important aspects of the case. The modus operandi, the death of Daft Jamie, Burke’s written confession is reproduced, an etching of Burke on the gallows, the mob chasing the suspect after a ‘not proven’ verdict, and many other illustrations are used to help us understand the case.

The Burke and Hare case is still written about to this day and Famous Crimes gives their Edwardian opinion on the suspects, the trial and on Dr Knox himself.

Following this, two pages are given to types of poison and how to detect them

Two and half pages are given on “The Brothers Davies”, brothers accused of murdering their father who beat their mother. It’s quite a sad episode, where it appears that the wrong man was hanged.

Three pages are given to Cadwallader Jones a murderer from Dolgelly, Wales, and an illustration shows the final moments of his crime where he attacks Sarah Hughes.

“In Times of Torture” gives details of rat torture and the rack with illustrations of the implements used, including some very hungry looking rats.

Brief mentions of Jack Sheppard and Thomas More are followed by an article on the life of a religious maniac “Charles Freeman”, who murdered his family and was almost lynched by a mob. An excellent illustration shows the police protecting Freeman from a hysterical crowd.

A further two pages are given to James Henry Gibb who murdered his lover in 1871. A page from this article is given to the right.

The high moral ground is taken on the back page where the author deals with Juvenile offenders. For his day the writer would have been quite enlightened, but by today’s standards the writer’s suggestion of the birch might not be seen as so politically correct.

Famous Crimes was a penny journal. It was published from 1902 and became an instant hit with its sensational journalism and gruesome illustrations. The illustrations really are superb.

Please see my other sales for other Famous Crimes including Charles Peace and Guy Fawkes.

If you have any questions please email me at goughsquare@hotmail.com

A Society

If you might be interested in a Charles Peace society, please email me at goughsquare @ hotmail.co.uk