Halifax and its gibbet-law placed in a true light. Together with a description of the town […] With an account of the gentry […] To which are added, the unparallel’d tragedies committed by Sir John Eland, of Eland. by MIDGLEY, Samuel - 1761

Halifax: P. Darby for John Bentley, 1761. Hardcover. See Description. Small 8vo. pp. [4], 95, [1]. With frontispiece illustration of the Halifax gibbet. Bound in full period sheep with gilt spine; rubbing and wear to extremities; head cap and front hinge are neatly restored. Several worn spots on the spine are touched up and a few gilt lines are repaired. Interior contains light age-toning and some spots of foxing. Name plate present on inside front cover with name rubbed off. This book was first published in 1708. According to Upcott the author was a physician named Dr. Samuel Midgley, "who wrote it… while in Halifax jail for debt, where he died in 1695. His poverty prevented his printing it; and John Bentley (under whose name the volume is generally known), who was Clerk of Halifax Church, claimed the hounor of it after his death." Chapter I contains a description of town customs and traditions; chapter II discusses the laws of Halifax and defends the Gibbet Law which states that any felon caught with stolen commodities valued at thirteen pence half-penny shall, following his condemnation, be led to the town gibbet and have his head cut off; chapter III offers a narrative of trying felons in Halifax. The second part of the book contains a separate title page "Revenge upon revenge: or, an historical narrative of the tragical practices of Sir John Eland, of Eland, High Sheriff of the County of York…" (Halifax, 1761), which recounts some of the misdeeds surrounding the "Elland Feud," particularly the murder of Sir Robert Beaumont by Sir John Eland and the subsequent killing of Eland by Beaumont’s son.[ESTC T33073; Upcott, p.1392; Halkett & Laing III, p.2].