A Collection and Abridgement of Celebrated Criminal Trials in Scotland, from A.D. 1536 to 1784. With Historical and Critical Remarks
Glasgow, A. Napier, 1812/ [1785].
Octavo, 440 pages.
Modern quarter calf and cloth; a little foxed and tanned throughout; a few small stains and other minor signs of age and handling; a very good copy.
A selection and abstract of the more sensational trials from Scottish history, with sections devoted to treason, murder, piracy, forgery, incest, adultery, and witchcraft, as well as obscurer offences such as 'Tumult within Burgh' and 'Breaking of Gardens'. 'The Criminal Records of a Country are an historical monument of the ideas of a People, of their manners and jurisprudence: and in the days of ignorance and barbarism, they exhibit a striking, but hideous picture of human nature. The records of Scotland, in particular, present such a bitter display of the extravagance of the human mind as amuses the fancy after the wearisome detail of form, and the disgusting representation of guilt. While those materials gratify curiosity, they also afford useful information. They show what bitter fruits are produced under the gloomy climate of a tyrannical Government, and a superstitious Priesthood; and they afford us ample ground of consolation, when we compare those bitter fruits with the blessings which we enjoy under a free government, and in an enlightened age' (from the preface).
Item #146645
Price (AUD):
$250.00