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BARRINGTON, George.
A Selection of Contemporary Issues of The London Chronicle Relating to the Trial of George Barrington.
London, 1788.
Quarto, seven issues each of eight pages, some cropped at the top edge with slight loss of text, a few old stamps and contemporary annotations, yet a good collection bound in half calf.
This important collection of popular articles follows the later part of George Barrington's dubious criminal career in Britain and subsequent trial at the Assizes. The first issue reports that Bow Street Runners are informed that he has indeed returned to London, this time masquerading as a Welsh dentist. His subsequent arrest is followed by three articles on the trial detailing the evasive machinations of his lawyers. Nathan Garvey in The Celebrated George Barrington (Hordern House, 2009) comments on the importance of the popular press in illuminating details of Barrington's remarkably diverse criminal career. The London Chronicle was sometimes sympathetic in tone: 'He was dressed in a light coloured surtout drab coat, loose curls, round hat, and boots. His appearance and demeanour was perfectly easy, collected and genteel. He made a profound bow to the court on entering and on retiring…' (extracted from number 5003 for November 1788). This collection consists of seven issues, being numbers 4943, 4949, 4953, 4975, 5001, 5003, and 5006 for July to November 1788.
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