The Perreaus and Mrs. Rudd: Forgery and Betrayal in Eighteenth-Century London
The Perreaus and Mrs. Rudd: Forgery and Betrayal in Eighteenth-Century London
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Abstract
This book tells the remarkable story of a complex forgery uncovered in London in 1775. The Perreau-Rudd case—filled with scandal, deceit, and mystery—preoccupied a public hungry for sensationalism. Peopled with such familiar figures as John Wilkes, King George III, Lord Mansfield, and James Boswell, this story reveals the deep anxieties of this period of English capitalism. The case acts as a prism that reveals the hopes, fears, and prejudices of that society. Above all, this episode presents a parable of the 1770s, when London was the center of European finance and national politics, of fashionable life and tell-all journalism, of empire achieved and empire lost. The crime, a hanging offense, came to light with the arrest of identical twin brothers, Robert and Daniel Perreau, after the former was detained trying to negotiate a forged bond. At their arraignment they both accused Daniel's mistress, Margaret Caroline Rudd, of being responsible for the crime. The brothers' trials coincided with the first reports of bloodshed in the American colonies at Lexington and Concord and successfully competed for space in the newspapers. From March until the following January, people could talk of little other than the fate of the Perreaus and the impending trial of Mrs. Rudd. The participants told wildly different tales and offered strikingly different portraits of themselves. The press was filled with letters from concerned or angry correspondents. The public, deeply divided over who was guilty, was troubled by evidence that suggested not only that fair might be foul, but that it might not be possible to decide which was which.
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Front Matter
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Introduction
Donna T. Andrew andRandall McGowen
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One
To the Hanging Tree
Donna T. Andrew andRandall McGowen
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Two
Alarming Crimes and Unsettling Stories
Donna T. Andrew andRandall McGowen
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Three
The Press and the Case
Donna T. Andrew andRandall McGowen
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Four
Passing Fair
Donna T. Andrew andRandall McGowen
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Five
Fashion and its Discontents
Donna T. Andrew andRandall McGowen
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Six
Private Credit and Public Confidence
Donna T. Andrew andRandall McGowen
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Seven
Debating the Law
Donna T. Andrew andRandall McGowen
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Eight
Writing Her Life: Mrs. Rudd’s Life Stories
Donna T. Andrew andRandall McGowen
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Nine
Mrs. Rudd on Trial
Donna T. Andrew andRandall McGowen
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Ten
“If Innocents Should Suffer”
Donna T. Andrew andRandall McGowen
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Eleven
Looking Back
Donna T. Andrew andRandall McGowen
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Epilogue
Donna T. Andrew andRandall McGowen
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End Matter
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