REPORT OF THE CASE JOHN DORRANCE AGAINST ARTHUR FENNER, TRIED AT THE DECEMBER TERM, OF THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS, IN THE COUNTY OF PROVIDENCE, A.D. 1801. TO WHICH ARE ADDED, THE PROCEEDINGS IN THE CASE ARTHUR FENNER VS. JOHN DORRANCE. CAREFULLY COMPILED FROM NOTES CORRECTLY TAKEN BY SEVERAL GENTLEMEN WHO WERE PRESENT DURING THE WHOLE COURSE OF THE TRIAL.
Providence: Printed by Bennett Wheeler, 1802. iv, 116 pp. Disbound. Scattered, generally light foxing. Good+.
"In these bizarre cases a justice of the Court of Common Pleas and the Governor sued each other for libel... The confusion in these two proceedings is apparent, but unfortunately is not clarified in these reports" [Cohen].
"Governor Arthur Fenner accused Judge John Dorrance [both of Rhode Island] of having sold in February 1799 the body of a stranger who committed suicide by hanging. The body was purportedly offered to a local physician, Dr. Pardon Bowen, who then allegedly paid Judge Dorrance one beaver hat for the priviledge of possession. Governor Fenner used the charge to engineer the political defeat of the Judge's campaign for a seat in the General Assembly in 1801. In response, Judge Dorrance sued Governor Fenner for slander." [Shultz, BODY SNATCHING. THE ROBBING OF GRAVES FOR THE EDUCATION OF PHYSICIANS IN EARLY NINETEENTH CENTURY AMERICA 48. Jefferson, NC: 1992.]
Cohen 11968. Sabin 20652. Item #38521
Price: $450.00