A complete report of the trial of Dr. E. W. Pritchard, for the alleged poisoning of his wife and mother-in-law. Reprinted, by special permission, from the “Scotsman”. Carefully revised by an eminent lawyer. With an accurate portrait.

Pritchard, Edward William, 1825-1865.

Edinburgh : William Kay, 1865.

Description, second edition : [3 l] pl., [i]-viii p., [1]-134 p. ; ill.: 2 phots., 1 engr. ; 22.2 cm.

Photographs : 2 albumens mounted to separate leaves, frontis. portraits of Pritchard.

Photographer(s) : Cramb Brothers of Glasgow.

Subject : Medical biography — Edward William Pritchard (1825-1865).

Notes :

• Author caption: Carefully revised by an eminent lawyer.
• Member, College of Surgeons, 1846.
• Naval medical officer, 1846-1851.
• Medical degree, University of Erlangen, 1857.
• Degree purchased in absentia.
• Extra-illustrated, photographs not in the regular editions.
• Index Medicus: 10303251120, 11106741190, 11406761650.

The Solicitor-General—Did he give you his likeness? Yes. Did he give you more than one photograph of himself? Yes. Was his photograph in one of these brooches which he gave you? In the locket. Was there a photograph in it when he gave it you? Yes. There is not a photograph in it now; what has become of it? (Witness hesitated.) The Solicitor-General repeated the question. What became of it? (Witness faintly.) I tore it.—Testimony of Mary M'Leod, Page 22.

In Glasgow on July 28, 1865, a crowd of 100,000 gathered to watch the hanging of Dr. Pritchard, the "philandering poisoner." It was the last time the citizens of Scotland would be treated to the spectacle of a public execution—thereafter the condemned were dispatched behind the walls of the penal system. In the days leading up to the execution, the Cramb brothers sold for a shilling, souvenir cartes-de-visite of Pritchard, the same two images that are bound into this volume. The widespread dissemination of Pritchard's portrait was an irony set in motion by the monster himself—during his lifetime, Pritchard procured copies of his photographic likeness by the dozen to palm off upon anyone he wanted to impress, including the objects of his sexual predation. He also carried about a photograph of himself surrounded by his family and would often present the image as proof of moral character. Multiple editions of the book appeared in 1865, but there are no references to a special edition illustrated by photographs, so this volume may be a grangerized unicum.