Genuine and Impartial Memoirs of Elizabeth Canning

Elizabeth Canning (1734 â€"1773) was an English maidservant who claimed to have been kidnapped and held against her will in a hayloft for almost a month She ultimately became central to one of the most famous English criminal mysteries of the 18th century

She disappeared on 1 January 1753, before returning almost a month later to her mother's home, emaciated and in a "deplorable condition" After being questioned by concerned friends and neighbors she was interviewed by the local alderman, who then issued an arrest warrant for Susannah Wells, the woman who occupied the house in which Canning was supposed to have been held At Wells' house, Canning identified Mary Squires as another of her captors, prompting the arrest and detention of both Wells and Squires London magistrate Henry Fielding (yes, the famous author of Tom Jones!) became involved in the case, taking Canning's side Further arrests were made and several witness statements were taken, and Wells and Squires were ultimately tried and found guiltyâ€"Squires of the more serious and potentially capital charge of theft

However, Crisp Gascoyne, trial judge and Lord Mayor of London, was unhappy with the verdict and began his own investigation He spoke with witnesses whose testimony implied that Squires and her family could not have abducted Canning, and he interviewed several of the prosecution's witnesses, some of whom recanted their earlier testimony He ordered Canning's arrest, following which she was tried and found guilty of perjury Squires was pardoned, and Canning sentenced to one month's imprisonment and seven years of transportation (ie exile to Connecticut) (above summarized from Wikipedia)

An extremely scarce first edition of Canning's own story of her case Apparent contemporary full leather, gilt ruled with five raised bands on the spine, in very sound condition and with only minor browning and spotting on endpapers and text Title page has an early previous owner's inked inscription "Ann Taylor's Book" at the top (A relatively common name, but there were at least two British authors of that name between the publication date and 1866, if one wishes to research further) Otherwise no marks at all Order: Blank page, title page, blank page, preface (A2, iv-vi), 293 pp of text and 3 ending blank pages End papers appear to be original to the binding