The Story of Burke and Hare

“The Story of Burke and Hare” is an 1861 work by Alexander Leighton that examines the Burke and Hare case, a series of 16 brutal murders perpetrated by William Burke and William Hare in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1828. After the murders, the duo sold the cadavers to Robert Knox who then used them in his lectures for dissection. Leighton describes in detail the murders and evidence, as well as the trial and other elements of one of Scotland’s most notorious crimes. Contents include: “First Appearance in Surgeon’s Square”, “Intercalary”, “The Young Amateurs”, “The Regular Staff.”, “Sympathising Sextons, Doctors, and Relatives”, “Preying on Each Other”, “Resumption of the Great Drama”, “The Quaternion”, “The Opening of the Court”, “The Mother and Daughter”, “The Grandmother and the Dumb Boy.”, “The Stray Waifs”, “The Relative”, “The Study for the Artist”, etc. Read & Co. History is proudly republishing this classic work now in a brand new edition complete with an introductory biography of the author by Thomas Wilson Bayne.