Burke and Hare serial killers.- Body snatchers.- Catnach (James, publisher) Execution of W. Burke, …

Burke and Hare serial killers.- Body snatchers.- Catnach (James, publisher) Execution of W. Burke, execution broadside, woodcut vignette showing the hanging with two columns of text to either side, with 3 further columns of letterpress text below, on thin wove paper without watermark, sheet 360 x 248 mm (14 1/8 x 9 5/8 in), handling creases, surface dirt and browning, slightly rough edges but without any tears, unframed, 2 Monmouth Court, Seven Dials, [1829] ⁂ Scarce, with no other copies located on World Cat or having been offered at auction. The execution of William Burke followed a series of sixteen serial killings committed over a period of about ten months in 1828 in Edinburgh. The murders were undertaken by Burke and William Hare, who sold the corpses to Robert Knox for dissection at his anatomy lectures. The pair were discovered following the murder of their last victim, Margaret Docherty. Following his hanging, Burke's corpse was dissected and his skeleton displayed at the Anatomical Museum of Edinburgh Medical School where it remains.