{"product_id":"simpson-bulkeley-an-abortive-norwich-duel-two-rare-pamphlets-1826-james-stowe-r-c-fiske-provenance","title":"Simpson \u0026 Bulkeley — An Abortive Norwich Duel — Two Rare Pamphlets, 1826 — James Stowe \u0026 R. C. Fiske Provenance","description":"\u003cp dir=\"auto\" class=\"PDq2pG_selectionAnchorContainer\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTwo exceptionally scarce Norwich pamphlets documenting an abortive duel between a young officer of the 40th Regiment and William Simpson, preserved together with a contemporary ownership inscription dated in the very midst of the affair.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan class=\"PDq2pG_selectionAnchor\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"auto\"\u003eNorwich: S. Wilkin, Upper Haymarket; and Matchett \u0026amp; Stevenson, Market-place, 1826. First editions. Two pamphlets bound together in later quarter black morocco over marbled boards, spine ruled and lettered in gilt \u003cstrong\u003e“BULKELEY V SIMPSON — NORWICH, 1826.”\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"auto\"\u003eAn extraordinary survival of a provincial quarrel which rapidly escalated from a street scuffle into the formal preliminaries of a duel.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"auto\"\u003eThe first pamphlet, \u003cstrong\u003eWilliam Simpson's \u003cem\u003eStatement of the Facts which occurred in the late affair between Mr. Bulkeley, of the 40th Regiment, and Mr. William Simpson\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e, opens with Simpson's account of an altercation on the evening of \u003cstrong\u003e21 June 1826\u003c\/strong\u003e. According to Simpson, he and \u003cstrong\u003eLempster Bulkeley of the 40th Regiment\u003c\/strong\u003e “collared” one another before a scuffle ensued. Bulkeley subsequently claimed to his brother officers that he had given Simpson “a damned good thrashing,” and the dispute developed into a question of honour requiring satisfaction.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"auto\"\u003eThe pamphlet provides a remarkably detailed account of the conventions surrounding an intended duel. Bulkeley initially called upon \u003cstrong\u003eMr. Whitbread\u003c\/strong\u003e to act as his “Friend” — effectively his second. Whitbread met Simpson at the Norfolk Hotel and attempted to arrange an amicable settlement, explaining that he had no intention of “going out with Mr. Bulkeley,” since \u003cstrong\u003e“expulsion from the University”\u003c\/strong\u003e would be the consequence. Bulkeley subsequently selected \u003cstrong\u003eMr. Dye\u003c\/strong\u003e in his place, while Simpson entrusted his side of the affair to \u003cstrong\u003eW. V. Bacon\u003c\/strong\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"auto\"\u003eThe negotiations failed to produce a meeting. Simpson eventually declared Bulkeley a coward for refusing the satisfaction he believed honour demanded. Bulkeley instead made a deposition before the \u003cstrong\u003eChief Magistrate of Norwich\u003c\/strong\u003e, following which Simpson was bound over to keep the peace.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"auto\"\u003eSimpson's pamphlet concludes with a postscript dated \u003cstrong\u003e21 August 1826\u003c\/strong\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"auto\"\u003eOf particular interest, its title-page bears the contemporary ownership inscription:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"auto\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e“James Stowe \/ Augt 23d 1826.”\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"auto\"\u003eThe pamphlet was therefore in Stowe's possession only \u003cstrong\u003etwo days after Simpson's concluding statement\u003c\/strong\u003e, demonstrating almost immediate contemporary circulation.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"auto\"\u003eThree days later, on \u003cstrong\u003e26 August 1826\u003c\/strong\u003e, Bulkeley issued the second pamphlet bound here, \u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA Reply to Mr. Simpson's Statement\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e. His version is considerably less conciliatory. Bulkeley states that Simpson's behaviour had been “ungentlemanly and insulting” and admits that:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"auto\"\u003e“I … knocked him down and struck him several times with my stick.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"auto\"\u003eAcross fifteen pages Bulkeley systematically answers Simpson's accusations and defends his refusal to resolve the affair by duel, concluding from the barracks on \u003cstrong\u003e26 August 1826\u003c\/strong\u003e that he had published his account in order “to set the public right in regard to the true merits of the case.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"auto\"\u003eTogether the two pamphlets preserve \u003cstrong\u003eboth sides of an unusually well-documented dispute\u003c\/strong\u003e, printed within days of one another by two different Norwich presses.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"auto\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Whitbread connection\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"auto\"\u003eThe \u003cstrong\u003e“Mr. Whitbread”\u003c\/strong\u003e whom Bulkeley initially asked to act as his second is very probably \u003cstrong\u003eEdmund Salter Whitbread (1804–1890)\u003c\/strong\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"auto\"\u003eWhitbread was then an undergraduate at \u003cstrong\u003eTrinity Hall, Cambridge\u003c\/strong\u003e, taking his B.A. in April 1827. The identification fits the pamphlet's explicit statement that participation in the duel would expose Whitbread to \u003cstrong\u003eexpulsion from the University\u003c\/strong\u003e. He was also firmly connected with East Anglia: born in Suffolk, ordained at Norwich Cathedral in 1828, and later Rector of Strumpshaw with Bradestone in Norfolk for more than half a century.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"auto\"\u003eThe pamphlet itself gives only the surname, however, and the identification should therefore be regarded as \u003cstrong\u003ehighly probable rather than proven\u003c\/strong\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"auto\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eProvenance\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"auto\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eJames Stowe\u003c\/strong\u003e, contemporary ownership inscription dated \u003cstrong\u003e23 August 1826\u003c\/strong\u003e to the title-page of Simpson's \u003cem\u003eStatement\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"auto\"\u003eLater from the library of \u003cstrong\u003eR. C. Fiske, North Walsham\u003c\/strong\u003e, with his engraved armorial \u003cem\u003eEx Libris R. C. Fiske Nth. Walsham\u003c\/em\u003e bookplate.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"auto\"\u003eFiske was a significant Norfolk antiquarian collector whose library included substantial holdings of Norfolk, naval and Nelson material.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"auto\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBibliographical note\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"auto\"\u003eThe pamphlets are of considerable rarity. A previous specialist auction catalogue described both as \u003cstrong\u003efirst editions\u003c\/strong\u003e and recorded them as absent from COPAC at the time of cataloguing. \u003cspan class=\"contents\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"auto\"\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003eArmy List records Bulkeley’s commissions as Ensign, 8 April 1825; Lieutenant, 29 May 1828; and Captain, 9 January 1835.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"auto\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePhysical description\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"auto\"\u003eOctavo. Two separately printed pamphlets bound together:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"auto\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSIMPSON, William.\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cem\u003eStatement of the Facts which occurred in the late affair between Mr. Bulkeley, of the 40th Regiment, and Mr. William Simpson.\u003c\/em\u003e Norwich: printed by S. Wilkin, Upper Haymarket, [1826]. \u003cstrong\u003e16 pp.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"auto\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBULKELEY, Lempster.\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cem\u003eA Reply to Mr. Simpson's Statement.\u003c\/em\u003e Norwich: Matchett and Stevenson, Printers, Market-place, [1826]. \u003cstrong\u003e15 pp.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"auto\"\u003eLater quarter black morocco over green and red marbled boards; spine ruled in gilt and lettered \u003cstrong\u003e“BULKELEY V SIMPSON \/ NORWICH, 1826.”\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"auto\"\u003eA substantial number of \u003cstrong\u003elater binder's blanks\u003c\/strong\u003e have been inserted before and after the original pamphlets, evidently to give sufficient body to the very slender publications when they were rebound. These blanks are part of the later binding structure and do not represent missing or removed material.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3 dir=\"auto\"\u003eCondition\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"auto\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eVery good.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"auto\"\u003eBinding sound and attractive, with light rubbing and minor marks commensurate with use; small ink numeral \u003cstrong\u003e“6”\u003c\/strong\u003e to one marbled board. Spine gilt remains bright.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"auto\"\u003eOriginal pamphlets with light age-toning, occasional spotting and handling marks; Simpson's title somewhat toned and creased, but entirely legible. Contemporary \u003cstrong\u003eJames Stowe\u003c\/strong\u003e inscription clear at the head of the title. Both pamphlets complete, Simpson concluding at p. 16 and Bulkeley at p. 15.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"auto\"\u003eNumerous clean later binder's blanks before and after the original texts. R. C. Fiske bookplate internally.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"auto\"\u003eA particularly appealing copy of two exceptionally scarce pieces of Norwich ephemera, preserving the accusation and rebuttal together.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Reservoir Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":58083565601150,"sku":null,"price":230.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1018\/4464\/8318\/files\/IMG_0811.jpg?v=1790168525","url":"https:\/\/reservoirbooks.store\/products\/simpson-bulkeley-an-abortive-norwich-duel-two-rare-pamphlets-1826-james-stowe-r-c-fiske-provenance","provider":"Reservoir Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}