18TH CENTURY Engraving ~ NOTORIOUS KILLER ~ Copperplate WILLIAM HOGARTH

Description: A portrait of the notorious murderer Sarah Malcolm, a copperplate engraving after a work by William Hogarth (1697-1764). I'm not sure if this is from the Boydell edition of 1789 or the slightly later work of Thomas Cook in 1802. Image measures approx. 7 x 7 inches, plate is 8 7/8 x 8 7/8 inches and the with margins the sheet is approx. 10 1/2 x 11 inches. It is printed in black in on fine old wove paper, has some minor handling creases outside of image and should frame up beautifully. Another impression of this print from the same edition is in the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/396552 Sarah Malcolm came from an Anglo–Irish family in County Durham, where she was born around 1710. She was brought up in Dublin and emigrated to London and found work in domestic service, working as a laundress for residents above the Inns of the Court. Malcolm came to know a widow named Lydia Duncomb (aged about 80) who lived with two maids: Elizabeth Harrison (aged about 60), who was infirm; and Ann Price (aged about 17). In February 1733 the three women were found murdered and their apartment burgled, and Malcolm was brought in for questioning. Malcolm confessed to being involved in the robbery (itself a capital crime), but said that she was part of a group of four. If she could have implicated the other three for the murders then she might still have escaped a death sentence, but the investigators were not convinced. The key evidence was that her clothing had blood stains (Malcolm claimed this was simply her own menstrual blood rather than the blood of the victims) and that 45 guineas were found hidden in her hair. During the trial she defended herself eloquently, however, Malcolm was sentenced to death after the jury took only 15 minutes to decide her guilt. She was hanged in Fleet Street in London in early March 1733, still denying the killing. Malcolm is remembered because William Hogarth visited her in Newgate Prison a few days before she was executed and sketched her likeness. Hogarth was not alone in exploiting her notoriety as others went to see if they could gain a confession that they could publish.

Price: 95 USD

Location: Spring Hill, Florida

End Time: 2025-01-11T01:23:19.000Z

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