BOWLSBY, Alice. The Great "Trunk Mystery" of New York City. Murder of the Beautiful Miss Alice A. Bowlsby, of Paterson, N.J.. (1875)

AUTHOR: BOWLSBY, Alice

TITLE: The Great "Trunk Mystery" of New York City. Murder of the Beautiful Miss Alice A. Bowlsby, of Paterson, N.J. Her Body Placed in a Trunk and Labelled for Chicago. Many Strange Incidents Made Public.

PUBLISHER: Philadelphia: Barclay & Co., Publishers, [copyright 1875].

DESCRIPTION: 1 vol., 9-3/8" x 6", 17-104pp., stitched pamphlet, pictorial purple wrappers, folding frontis, numerous full page woodblock illustrations, complete.

CONDITION: Two pages with 1" closed tears, minor chipping to foredge of front wrapper, internally clean and bright, hinges fine, spine fine, no repairs of any kind, IN VERY GOOD CONDITION.

REFERENCE: McDade 828

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: This is most certainly one of the best of the venerable Barclay series, promising "to lay before the reader one of the most startling revelations of crime that ever was developed, even in the crime-saturated city of New York." The afternoon of August 26, 1871 a porter at the Hudson River Railroad Depot in Manhattan, noticed a disgusting odor emanating from a trunk bound for Chicago. He notified the baggage master, who ordered his men to open the trunk and find the source of the smell. They lifted the lid, removed a blanket, and found the body of a pretty, young woman, with golden hair, jammed into the trunk, naked, in a fetal position. The trunk had no address, and no one knew who had left it. The police seemed powerless to solve the “Great Trunk Mystery”. Date: August 23, 1871. Cause of Death: Botched abortion. The Accused: Jacob Rosenzweig. Several copyrighted issues appeared between 1871 and 1875, contributing to a vigorous anti-abortion crusade launched by the New York Times. The evil doctor was convicted of second degree murder and sentenced to seven years at Sing Sing; but his skilled defense lawyer, William Howe, got him out in a year.