Title: [NEWGATE GAOL AUCTION CATALOGUE] Newgate ...
Publisher: London, Messrs.Douglas Young & Co., Auctioneers
Publication Date: 1903
Binding: Soft cover
Book Condition: Fair
Edition: 1st Edition
4to, 20 printed pages, photo-pictorial wrappers, further photo-illustrations in the text, (folds, foxing to covers, short tears in the margins, staple bound covers & leaves loose; overall a bit tatty but acceptably so). A very rare (albeit scruffy) survivor from the final days (demolition began in 1902) of one of London s iconic landmarks, now the site of the Old Bailey, Central Criminal Court. The prison evolved through several stages, being rebuilt between 1770-1778, only to be destroyed by the Gordon Rioters. Rebuilding again took place between 1780-1783.The catalogue, describing some 208 lots, is mostly priced in pencil. For example,Lots 173 & 174 comprise the door and grille through which the notorious criminal Jack Sheppardescaped the last time from Newgate : fetched £3.10/-and £2. Lots 163-165 were the doors . . . last used at the final Public Execution which took place on May 26, 1868, when the Fenian, Michael Barrett, was hanged for complicity in the Clerkenwell Explosion. In all probability they had been in use since 3rd December, 1783, the date of the first Public Execution outside Newgate, £9.10/-, £8.10/-and £13. The highest price was £100 for the old Toll Bell (Lot 188); Elizabeth Fry's Door from the Old Debtor's Prison (Lot 195) fetched £20. The auction catalogue proceeds room by room through the prison, with some intriguing detail and illustrations. Seller Inventory # 5084