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DERNLEY, SID with NEWMAN, DAVID: : THE HANGMAN'S TALE: Memoirs of a Public Executioner

LONDON.ROBERT HALE LIMITED,1989.

ISBN 0709038364.

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,illustrated,1st edn.FINE-/FINE-. No owner inscrptn and no price-clip to dw/dj - price to rear panel of dw/dj - but a residual 'ghost' of an absent adhesive label with no printed price beneneath it to front inner flap. Bright,crisp,clean,glossy laminated,wrap-around black background with colour photograph of hangman's rope noose to front of dw/dj,with capitalised red-lettered part-title and other white-lettered sub-title and authors' names in capitalised,white-lettering to front panel; spine/backstrip with similarly coloured+lettered title+authors' names as the front's,and publisher's capitalised,red-lettered name to foot of same,rear panel with subject's b/w portrait photograph.Negligible shelf-wear to edges and corners - no nicks,tears or splits present,intact and complete.Top edges with merest hint of dust-flecking but no foxing/spotting,fore-edges bright,crisp and clean also without any foxing/spotting; contents bright, tight,clean,solid and sound - pristine - no dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corners, appears unread apart from my collation. Publisher's bright,crisp,unblemished,sharp-cornered,original plain black cloth boards with bright,crisp,blocked silver gilt lettering,and immaculate plain black endpapers.UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,illustrated,1st edn,12-207pp [paginated] includes verso of author's Introduction,16 chapters includes Conclusions,8pp contemporary b/w photographs in 1 block between pp96/97 and an Index; plus [unpaginated] half-title page with a b/w sketch/illustration of a Plan of Execution Chamber to verso,a title page,a Contents list/table,an Illustrations list/table with invite to contact publisher's regarding copyrightfor a couple of photographs to the reverse,Acknowledgements and recto of Introduction.                                    Visually the exterior appearance is exceptional,and particularly internally,the book is also in an exceptional condition/state of preservation and presentation for a book of its 30+ year-old age.It really is an exceptional, exemplary example for its cleanliness,brightness and lack of age-acquired detracting faults.   Since the abolition of capital punishment in Britain in 1965,the secrets of the execution chamber have remained shrouded in mystery. Now,for the first time this century - because of a change in the secrecy laws - a hangman is free to relate what really happened when the extreme penalty of the law was exacted.                  On 29 March 1949 Sydney Dernley watched James Farrell hang at Winston Green Prison,Birmingham. From that moment,he became a man with a 'hidden life'.At last,Derneley has broken a long silence to tell his chilling story.He recounts his work with Albert Pierrepoint; his part in the execution of Timothy John Evans,the only man granted a posthumous free pardon; and his involvement in several double hangings.He reveals that in the nightmare world of of the execution suite things did go wrong: one hanging was so badly botched that the executioner was sacked.                                         Dernley remembers the differing behaviour of condemned men.Some were petrified - that is scarcely surprising - but others were astonishingly brave . . . there was one who even smiled and ran towards the waiting noose.Though murderers were placed on round the clock double guard from the moment they entered the condemned cell,one man came within an ace of cheating the gallows with a desperate suicide attempt.        This is an extraordinary account of the work of public hangmen and the last moments of the men dropped to their death on the gallows.   Please contact seller,for correct shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas buyers - BEFORE ordering through the order page! N.B. ALL buyers please note,stocks' actual shipping/P+p costs are adjusted and any difference is refunded,after order's receipt and before the order's despatch,especially if the item(s) are offered either P+p included/FREE. ** N.B. US/Canada customers please be aware: Standard US AIRMAIL to these destinations can now,in some cases,cost more than the price of the book! If speed is not of the essence, then Economy rate is recommended - at approx. anything from a 1/3rd to 1/2 of the standard US AIR quote/rate - sometimes arriving sooner than the 42 days - but not always. **

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn.
Not SIGNED.

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