Investigation at Ilchester Gaol, in the county of Somerset, into the conduct of William Bridle, the gaoler, before the commissioners appointed by the Crown.

London: T. Dolby. 1821.

First edition. 225x145mm. pp. viii, 7 [1bl], 8, 271, [3]. Frontispiece portrait and five further etched portrait plates. Uncut in the original boards. Tan morocco spine. Rubbing and wear to spine, edges and corners with some loss to head and foot of spine. Upper joint is split but holding. Leaf 2L has a closed tear without loss. Although a little delicate, it is in very good condition overall and is a rare book institutionally, Library Hub recording only six copies in the UK and comparatively scarce commercially.
Henry Hunt (1773-1835) was "a pretty sample of an ignorant, turbulent, mischief-making fellow, a highly dangerous one in troubled times" (not our words, the words of Francis Place who knew a rabbly radical when he saw one). He stood for Parliament in 1818 but received only 84 votes. In 1819, he came to national attention when he addressed a crowd at St Peter's Fields in Manchester shortly before what became known as the Peterloo Massacre. Hunt was arrested and imprisoned in Ilchester Gaol. While in prison, Hunt wrote an exposé of the appalling conditions and treatment (called, with disarming cosiness, A Peep into Prison). Chief among his complaints was the behaviour of the gaoler William Bridle. Hunt's book led to an official investigation into Bridle's behaviour and his eventual dismissal from his job. Hunt, on his release, continued his political career eventually becoming the Radical MP for Preston in 1830. With the stubbornness of the ideological purist, he refused to support the 1832 Reform Act on the grounds that it did not go far enough. Other, more pragmatic, radicals (including many of his constituents) despaired and Hunt lost his seat in the 1833 election.