Important and Interesting

A few years ago, through a Google search, I became aware of a rare book entitled, Important and Interesting Trial of Mortimer J. Smith, on an Indictment for Libel on Miss Emma Williams: in Having Connected Her Name with the Separation of David Groesbeck (the New York Wall Street broker), from his Wife: in the Albany Court of Session, December 16, 1847.

The book was listed in an auction catalogue for law books, with a reserve price of $250, much higher than its original price of 12¢. The auction was long over--great tragedy--but at least I knew the book existed. Later, I learned there were two editions, 1847 and 1870. The 1870 edition included additional material.

The 1847 edition was published out of Albany, New York, by Mortimer J. Smith, reprinting from Smith's short-lived publication, the Castigator. From what I can tell, the Castigator was only published in 1847, and Mr. Groesbeck's adulterous affair with Emma Williams may have been its only focus. Groesbeck accused Smith of defaming the character of Emma Williams and causing the separation of Groesbeck from this first wife, Mary W. Robinson. In the his trial for libel, Smith was found not guilty. To celebrate, Smith produced the 1847 edition of the book.

The book was reprinted in 1870 out of New York, with additional material and an introduction which took pains to point out that "In reproducing this evidence it is not for the gratification of malice, or to cater to a prurient taste, but simply in a philosophic sense to place before the public the facts developed in the trial." The unnamed editor goes on to say, "A quarter of a century ago, the individual whose name figures so frequently in the following pages, gave abundant evidences of that lamentable obliquity of moral vision which has ever prevented him from pursuing the paths of virtue...in this 'green and salad days,' with the hot blood of youth running riot in his veins, he neglected his loving wife to frolic on the barn floor with the fair object of an unlawful passion."

Now, our good friends at the Harvard University Library have made both editions of the book available on-line, not for $250, not for 12¢, but for free. The 1847 edition can be found here. The 1870 edition can be found here.

Groesbeck and Emma Williams were married on 21 Feb 1848, just a few months after the conclusion of the trial.