The whole proceedings on the trial of an information exhibited ex officio, by the King's Attorney General, against John Stockdale; for a libel on the House of Commons, tried in the Court of King's Bench Westminster, on Wednesday, the ninth of December, 1789, before the Right Hon. Lloyd Lord Kenyon, Chief Justice of England. Taken in short hand by Joseph Gurney. To which is subjoined, an argument in support of the rights of juries.

In - 8ø; XII, 228 pp., 8 cc.; legatura coeva in tutta pelle, tassello in marocchino, titolo e fregi in oro al dorso, riquadro in oro ai piatti (difetto ad un angolo del piatto anteriore). Esemplare proveniente dalla biblioteca Olin Lane Merrian (ex libris) e altro ex libris ottocentesco araldico al contropiatto anteriore. Prima edizione. "Stockdale, a London bookseller, was brought to trial on the complaint of Mr. Fox for publishing the Rev. Mr. Logan's pamphlet, A Review of the Principal Charges against Warren Hastings, Esquire, Late Governor General of Bengal. The pamphlet was in defence of Mr. Hastings and implied criticism of Parliament in handling the impeachment. Thomas Erskine's plea for the defence embodied many of the liberal principles of free speech and rights of juries in libel trials, for which he became famous. His ideas on the latter were embodied in the Fox Libel Act, passed two years later. Judge Kenyon instructed the jury to 'look at the whole book' in passing judgment. Stockdale was acquitted" (McCoy). McCoy Ralph Edward, Freedom of the Press, S.656.