[Rarebooks] fa: BISHOP OF ROCHESTER on the "FLOWERPOT PLOT" - 1722

[Ardwight Chamberlain]

Listed now, along with several other 18th- and 19th-century titles,  
auctions ending Sunday, Jan. 31. Details and images can be found at  
the URL below or by searching under the seller name arch_in_la.

http://shop.ebay.com/arch_in_la/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=&_trksid=p4340

Thanks,
Ardwight Chamberlain
L.A., CA USA

[Thomas Sprat, Bishop of Rochester:] A Relation of the Wicked  
Contrivance of Stephen Blackhead and Robert Young, against the Lives  
of several Persons, by forging an Association under their Hands. With  
a particular Account of what pass’d at the late Bishop of Rochester’s  
Three Examinations by a Committee of Lords of the Privy Council.  
Written by the said Bishop of Rochester. London: Printed for T. Payne  
at the Crown in Pater-Noster-Row, 1722. First edition thus. Disbound  
8vo pamphlet (19 cm); [8] + 44 pp.; woodcut ornaments and initials.  
ESTC T66486.
In 1692, Robert Young tried to frame the Bishop of Rochester by  
forging his signature on a treasonable document calling for the  
restoration of James II to the throne. He then had his accomplice (the  
aptly named Blackhead) hide the document in a flowerpot in the  
bishop's palace at Bromley. Young tipped off the authorities, but when  
a search of the palace failed to find the proper flowerpot, Young had  
to retrieve the damning document himself and forward it to the  
Secretary of State. The plot quickly unraveled, however, particularly  
once the blockheaded Blackhead confessed his part in the conspiracy.  
This is the bishop's account of the incident, first published in two  
parts in 1693. Remnant of older binding on spine, mild soiling and  
toning to the first and last leaves, early owner's cataloguing label  
on title-page, otherwise clean and sound. Rather uncommon: ESTC  
locates only 7 copies in U.S. libraries and institutions.