Edwin H. Porter

The first edition, personal copy of Lizzie Borden's lead defense counsel, Andrew J. Jennings.

• Edwin H. Porter, reporter.
• The Fall River Tragedy: A History of the Borden Murders. A Plain Statement of the Material Facts Pertaining to the Most Famous Crime of the Century.
• Fall River: J.D. Munroe, 1893.
• Octavo.
• Ownership label of Andrew J. Jennings to front board, Jennings's signature and address repeated within.
• Original publisher's cloth.

A remarkable and historically important association copy of the foundational contemporary account of the Lizzie Borden murders, owned and extensively marked by Andrew Jackson Jennings (1849–1923), the Fall River attorney who successfully defended Lizzie Borden against charges of murdering her father, Andrew Borden, and stepmother, Abby Borden, in one of the most celebrated criminal trials in American history.

Few crimes have entered American folklore as completely as the Borden murders. More than a century after the events of August 1892, the case continues to fascinate historians, criminologists, legal scholars and collectors. The enduring notoriety of the trial has elevated its principal participants into figures of American cultural history. Among them, no individual was more central to Lizzie Borden's defense than Andrew J. Jennings, her trusted adviser, family attorney, strategist and lead counsel.

This copy belonged to Jennings himself. The front board bears his personal ownership label reading:

"Property of Andrew J. Jennings

141 June Street

Fall River, Mass."

His ownership signature appears repeatedly within the volume, including on the front flyleaf, title page and opening text leaf, leaving no doubt as to its ownership and importance.

The accompanying provenance letter, signed by Jennings's great-granddaughter Wendy Waring, provides an extraordinary family history of the book. Writing in 1995, she confirms that Jennings retained the volume throughout his life and records that, following his death, it was discovered amongst a cache of trial-related material preserved in his attic. According to her account, the collection contained "the alleged murder weapon, coroner photographs, and other exhibits and related items," most of which were subsequently donated to a museum, while this volume remained in family hands until it passed to her. She further notes Jennings's habit of repeatedly signing and marking the book with his address, explaining the multiple ownership inscriptions present throughout.

Porter's work remains the cornerstone of Borden literature and is widely regarded as the essential contemporary account of the case. Long sought by collectors, its rarity has been enhanced by the enduring bibliographical legend that Lizzie Borden herself acquired and destroyed much of the remaining edition following publication. Whatever the truth of that story, surviving copies are increasingly difficult to obtain, while association copies are of the utmost rarity.

What distinguishes the present example is that it is not merely connected to the case; it belonged to one of its principal architects. Jennings was not an observer, journalist or later commentator. He was the lawyer who guided Lizzie Borden through the most sensational criminal prosecution of the nineteenth century and secured her acquittal. As such, this volume occupies a unique position at the intersection of true crime, legal history and Americana.

An important relic of American legal history and one of the most desirable Lizzie Borden association copies to have appeared on the market in recent years.

Accompanied by a signed provenance letter from Jennings's great-granddaughter, Wendy Waring, dated 13 September, 1995.