The Library of Stephen J. Farber

8vo (216 x 140 mm). Disbound and uncut. (Some marginal browning.); cloth folding case and chemise. Provenance: Thomas Houghter (early ownership signature on title-page).

FIRST EDITION THUS. The account of Zenger’s trial was first published in 1736, and this later edition includes for the first time the details of a similar trial against William Owen. Owen, a bookseller in London, had published a pamphlet in defense of Alexander Murray, who was tried for misconduct during an election and refused sentencing. Owen was arrested for libel, but, as in Zenger’s trial, the jury ruled in his favor after ignoring instructions from the judge.

“One of the famous decisions in legal history, establishing the epochal doctrine of the freedom of the press; probably written by James Alexander, one of Zenger’s attorneys.” (Howes). In 1733, Zenger published an article in his New York Weekly Journal that criticized British Colonial Governor William Cosby for removing the Colony’s Chief Justice, Lewis Morris. A year later, Zenger was arrested for seditious libel and was represented by Philadelphia attorney Andrew Hamilton. At the time, under British law, truth could not be used as a defense in libel cases, but Hamilton urged the jury to strike down this unjust law in favor of his client. The jury concurred, ignored the judge's instructions, and ruled Zenger not guilty. The case galvanized the colonies and later influenced how people thought about these topics, leading decades later to their enmeshment in the United States Constitution and Bill of Rights. Howes Z-6; Sabin 106311; ESTC T51691.