Eric Chaim Kline, Bookseller

Eric Chaim Kline, Bookseller

The Case of Mr. Francis Francia, the Reputed Jew. Who Was Acquitted of High-Treason, at the Sessions-House in the Old Baily, on Tuesday, Jan. 22, 1716

London: Printed for John Gouldins, 1716. First edition. Folio (12" by 7-1/4"). A-C2 (= 6 leaves). 12pp. (p.10 misnumbered "11"). Unbound stab-stitched pamphlet. Woodcut head piece. Moderate toning; occasional light foxing; faint dampstain at foot of title page. Bottom edge trimmed with some loss to imprint and date, as well as the catch-words throughout; of the main text, however, only six words are affected (p.5). Clean horizontal slash to last four leaves (not affecting legibility of text, and mended on both ends); first leaf separating at foot, but secure; last leaf neatly mended on verso.

First and only edition of a scarce pamphlet. The anonymous editor announces at the outset his intent to present a fair and balanced account "for the Lover of Truth and Impartiality, so to state this unhappy Man's Case, as to set both his Sufferings, and the Cause of them, in the clearest Light, that every one may form a right Judgment of both, and divest themselves of the Prejudices they have too rashly entertained against him or his Prosecutors." Francis Francia was born in Bordeaux in 1675 into a prosperous Jewish merchant family which traced its origins to Villareal in Portugal. He was the grandson of Domingo Rodriques Isaac Francia, a Spanish and East India merchant and shipowner of Leadenhall Street, London. Domingo had arrived in London from Bordeaux in 1655, and became a leading member of the Portuguese community which existed in London before the Jews had regained official permission to reside in England. Francis' father was in fact one of the signatories to Menasseh ben Israel's petition to Oliver Cromwell in favor of the re-admission of the Jews to England. After moving to London from Bordeaux along with his parents and two brothers in 1678, Francis continued in the trade of his father and established himself as a wine merchant. In 1716 he was tried on a charge of treasonable correspondence with adherents of the exiled Old Pretender, James. Despite the weighty evidence against him, he was acquitted.

The reason for Francia's acquittal and the precise nature of the game he was playing are not such easy matters to ascertain. In the wake of his acquittal, some believed that he had agreed to provide evidence against his co-conspirators. On the other hand, a contemporary journal account suggests: "It must frankly be owned that some the best lawyers were of opinion that there was not sufficient legal proof of Francia's having written the treasonable letters found in his copy-book and upon which the accusation was chiefly grounded" ("State of Great Britain," Jan. 1717, cited in JHSE). Early 20th-century scholarly inquiries into the Calendar of Stuart Papers, a large collection of letters and other documents belonging to the Old Pretender and his sons, "leaves no doubt that Francia was directly implicated in various Jacobite intrigues." Lipton goes on to speculate that "It is highly probable that, when future volumes of the Stuart Papers are issued, further unfavourable references on the part of his Jacobite colleagues will be made to Francia's activities presumably in their behalf. His surprising acquittal of the charge of high treason, his inquisitive questionings into Jacobite affairs which were not his immediate concern, his failure to redeem the promise of funds, all point in one direction, that he acted as a kind of agent-provocateur for the English court."

As the title suggests, there was some question about Mr. Francia's confessional allegiance. "It is indeed probable that, in accordance with the general custom of the Jews at Bordeaux which was in vogue until at least 1686, Francis was baptised. He may thus have nominally been a Christian [while residing in France], but it is interesting to note from the evidence given at the trial, that Francia refused on a certain occasion to take an oath upon the New Testament but produced instead a Jewish prayer book from his pocket" (Lipton & Wolf). The present pamphlet merely notes that Francia "is of Jewish Extraction, descended from the Tribe that hold themselves to be that of Benjamin" (p.2). A hint of prejudice against his heritage may be heard in the official court proceedings which declare him "moved and seduced by the Instigation of the Devil, as a false traitor against our said Lord the King" (p.4).

While the official report of the proceedings, The Tryal of Francis Francia (London: for D. Midwinter, 1716) is widely-held by institutional libraries, the present pamphlet is quite scarce: ESTC and OCLC locate only 14 copies between them, 6 of which are in North America. Item #51051

References: Enc. Jud. 7:46. ESTC T133664. M. Lipton and L. Wolf (postscript), "Francis Francia: The Jacobite Jew" [in:] Jewish Historical Society of England, Transactions 11 (1928): 190-205. Roth, Magna Bibliotheca Anglo-Judaica, B3.5 (p.248).

Full title and imprint: The Case of Mr. Francis Francia, the Reputed Jew. Who Was Acquitted of High-Treason, at the Sessions-House in the Old Baily, on Tuesday, Jan. 22, 1716. Together with the Learned Arguments for and against Him, by the Council for the King and the Prisoner: As Also the Substance of the Several Intercepted Letters, between Him and His Correspondents in France; in Particular That, at the Sight of Which, Mr. Harvey of Combe, Is Said to Have Stab'd Himself. Likewise a True Copy of Another Written in Justification of His Behaviour to Mr. Cowper, One of the Council for the King, on That Memorable Occasion: with the Names of the Jury that Brought Him in, Not Guilty. London: Printed for John Gouldins near Lincolns Inn; and are to be sold by the booksellers of London, and Westminster, 1716.

Price: $1,500.00

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