Charteris (Francis).- Life (The) of Colonel Don Francisco...Actions from his Birth to the Time of his receiving Sentence of Death for Rape..., woodcut frontispiece portrait, final 2ff. with pagination trimmed, some old stab-holes to inner-margin, soiled and lightly browned, 20th century morocco-backed boards, spine and corners rubbed, Printed for the Author, [?1730] § Scotch Gallantry display'd: or The Life and Adventures Of the unparralel'd Col. Fr-nc-s Ch-rt-s..., small surface abrasion affecting price to title imprint, trimmed affecting woodcut head-piece/headline to A2 and just touching first line of title, some very light browning, 19th century half calf, small loss to spine ends, quite worn at extremities, Printed for, and Sold by the Booksellers in Town and Country, 1730, first editions; and another on Charteris, 4to & 8vo (3)
⁂ Published when Charteris or 'Colonel Don Francisco' was at the height of his infamy, convicted of raping his servant Ann Bond. A Scottish rake and gambler, Charteris was renowned for being "eager in the gratification of his lower appetites, and ‘persisted,’ in the words of Arbuthnot, ‘in spite of age and infirmities, in the pursuit of every human vice excepting prodigality and hypocrisy’" (ODNB). He amassed a considerable fortune, and for some time had a standing arrangement with procuresses to send him country girls straight from the wagons; the first mentioned pamphlet recounts full details of these transactions, down to the terms of the contracts. It does not record Charteris' pardon for the rape, a remission that rankled with many and became a leading point in demonstrating the inequality of justice between rich and poor.
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