CHARLES GUITEAU
$400.00
60113-15
(1840-1882) American lawyer who assassinated James Garfield on July 2, 1881 over his disappointment in not obtaining public office. Lot of three items relating to the bizarre and fascinating trial of Guiteau for the assassination of Garfield. Guiteau's trial was notable for its use of the insanity defense, where Guiteau argued he was legally insane during the shooting but not permanently and medically insane. Lot contains an original copy of the trial's Prosecutor John K. Porter's "Closing Speech to the Jury", New York: John Polhemus, 1882, given in Washington D.C. on January 23, 1882. Porter's masterful and successful closing arguments led to Guiteau's conviction for murder, despite the defense's claim of insanity. Responding to the contention that Guiteau was insane, Porter exclaimed: "...The evidence shows him to have been cunning, crafty, and remorseless, utterly selfish from his youth up, low and brutal in his instincts, inordinate in his love of notoriety; eaten up by a lust of money which has gnawed into his soul like a cancer..." The printed speech, string-bound, is missing the back cover and the front paper cover is detached with extensive soiling and other markings. The cover has preserved the text to a great extent, though all pages bear signs of a water stain. Lot also includes a large, bold signature, "Charles Guiteau", a fine representation cut from a document. The final item is a cabinet card entitled, "The Guiteau Trial", showing a montage of its participants, including Guiteau and the jury. The card has moderate wear, else very good.