August Acquisitions: Catalogue 139!
The Ladies Hero or the Unfortunate James MacLeane Esq.r. Done from the Original late in the possession of M.r Salt Keeper of the Gate House. Printed for T. Harrison. Publish'd according to Act of Parliament Sep.r 29. 1750. Scarce hand-coloured engraving with etching. Sheet 340 x 250mm (13½ x 9¾"). Trimmed within plate, edge black-ruled, a few stains, mounted in album paper at edges. Horizontal crease left. Full-length portrait of James MacLaine (1724-1750), grocer-turned-highwayman, with the mask he used as a disguise on the ground to the side. With his partner William Plunkett (a bankrupt apothecary), he committed 20 robberys in six months between Hounslow Heath and Hyde Park. His most famous victim was Horace Walpole, who was grazed by an accidentally-fired bullet. Captured, Maclaine was sent to trial at the Old Bailey, where his dashing good looks created a sensation: he reputedly received nearly 3,000 guest