TRIAL FOR SLANDER, IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW-YORK, BEFORE CHIEF JUSTICE JONES, JANUARY TERM 1834- SECOND MONDAY IN TERM. ANDREW BOWDEN, VS ANDREW GIFFORD. DAMAGES LAID AT $10,000. REPORTED BY JOHN LOMAS, EDITOR OF "THE CITY HALL REPORTER & NEW-YORK LAW MAGAZINE." SECOND EDITION.
New York: Spear & Nesbitt, Printers, 1834. 15, [1 blank] pp. Disbound, margin-spotted. Title leaf lightly toned in part. Good+.
The dispute arose from "bitter hostility, some of the fruits of which were the gross slanders to be submitted to the jury," when the Reformed Presbyterian Church on Chambers Street divided, and "arrayed themselves on opposite sides." Each party to this litigation was "at the head" of one of the sides. Defendant charged plaintiff with "corrupt and wilful perjury." Plaintiff had borne "every renewed assault upon his character, without noticing it." But this was the last straw.
David Graham, one of the best litigators of the New York bar, represented plaintiff; Hugh Maxwell, another well-regarded lawyer, represented defendant. Summaries of testimony, counsel's arguments, and the charge to the jury are printed. The jury returned a verdict for plaintiff of $500. Cohen was unable to locate a copy of the first edition.
Cohen Supp. 11961.50. As of January 2018 OCLC records six locations of this second edition under several accession numbers, and one [NYHS] of the first edition, each printed in 1834. Item #34583
Price: $375.00