[England] Anonymous (Hunt, Joseph). The fatal effects of gambling exemplified in the murder of Wm. Weare, and the trial and fate of John Thurtell, the murderer and his accomplices...To which is added, The gambler's scourge: a complete expos? of the whole system of gambling in the metropolis. Thomas Kelly, London, 1824. 8vo, old calf, worn, upper board detached, lower board held by chords, prelims loose but still attached, some soiling of frontis and title page. One engraved frontispiece portfolio and 9 of the 10 text engravings (lacking Elstree Church and grave of Weare, page 48). Text browned with scattered soiling. Fair copy only, lacks one plate.See BBC Sale 328 lot 235: Poerce Egan's Account of the Trial of John Thurtell and Joseph Hunt (London 1824) bound with 'A Full Account of the Atrocious Murder of the Late Mr. W. Weare? London 1823 and EGAN. Recollections of John Thurtell, who was executed at Hertford on Friday, the 9th of January, 1824; for murdering Mr. W. Weare? London 1824"Three contemporary accounts of the celebrated murder of William Weare by John Thurtell in Gill's Hill Lane in October, 1823. Weare had apparently cheated Thurtell out of 300 piunds, but later agreed to a reconciliation, and was to join Thurtell for several days hunting in the country. Along the way, Thurtell shot Weare, who jumped out of the carriage, who was caught by Thurtell who clubbed Weare in the head and cut his throat. With the aid of more friends, Thurtell then tossed Weare's body into a swamp. Thurtells' associates turned King's evidence, the pistol was recovered, Thurtell was tried and convicted, and hanged in January 1824. Thurtell 'made a long and powerful speech in his own defence, and the court from the judge downwards were sensibly affected by the 'terrible earnestness' of his closing appeal. But, apart from the evidence of his scoundrelly allies, the crime was so clumsily contrived, and the circumstantial evidence was so strong, that there could be no doubt of the verdict. ..The Gill's Hill tragedy, in spite of the vulgar brutality of it's details, laod a powerful hold upon the popular imagination ?. Sir Walter Scott made a 'variorum' out of the numberless newspaper and cahp book accounts of the tragedy ?(and) in may, 1828 could not resist going out of his way to inspect the scene of the murder' - DNB Ehan's accounts were partly based upon two interviews with Thurtell while under the death sentence. "

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