VERY SCARCE ITALIAN «BLOODY MURDER» CONTAINING THE DEATH SENTENCE OF A LAWYER FOR THE MURDER OF HIS BROTHER

Relazione del delitto di omicidio e della condanna alla pena capitale del Dott. Giuseppe Gaspari. Verona, 29 Agosto, 1835 (printed by Libanti in Verona).

4to, printed on blue paper, pp. 4. A small woodcut with a skull and crossbones at the top of the text.


Very scarce «Bloody Murder» of the death sentence of a lawyer, Giuseppe Gaspari (born 8 may 1775) from Cologna Veneta (a village 20 km east from Verona, on the road to Venice), sentence executed by hanging on 29 August of 1835.

This documents tells the history of Gaspari, his childhood («he was proud and fierce»), his career as a lawyer and the continuous harassments against his father and his brother Sebastiano. On 13 September 1834, he starts to Cologna with a knife and the following morning, a Sunday, and waits for the arrival of his brother in the main square of the village, sitting at a coffee shop and pretending to write. When the brother arrives, he grabs him by the jacket with the left hand and with the right vibrates two stabbings, piercing his heart, and then a third stab wounds to the left thigh. Then he washes the knife at the fountain, declaring to have been satisfied with his revenge, and starts spontaneously towards the prison, leaving a widow and six children.

Styled at the time as "Last Dying Speeches" or "Bloody Murders" this kind of imprints «were sold to the audiences that gathered to witness public executions in 18th and 19th century (especially in Britain). These ephemeral publications were intended for the middle or lower classes, and most sold for a penny or less. Published by printers who specialized in this type of street literature, a typical example features an illustration (usually of the criminal, the crime scene, or the execution); an account of the crime and (sometimes) the trial; and the purported confession of the criminal, often cautioning the reader in doggerel verse to avoid the fate awaiting the perpetrator» (Crime Broadsides Project).

A classic Italian murder, committed by a lawyer.

References: For scholars and collectors interested in this topic, we suggest to see the beautiful «Crime Broadsides Project» of The Harvard School Library, a digitization of more than 500 broadsides.

Normal traces of use and light foxing, but a good copy.