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[CHARTERIS, Francis 1675 – 1732]. Some Authentick Memoirs of the Life of Colonel Ch[arteris], Rape-Master-General of Great Britain. By an Impartial Hand. London: Printed and Sold by the Booksellers of London and Westminster; and at the Several Pamphlet-Shops, 1730. FIRST EDITION. Contemporary calf ruled gilt, later endsheets, upper joint cracked and just holding. Title page trimmed and laid down, I2 supplied in manuscript, I3 guarded, lacks I4 (a blank). 8vo. Old newspaper accounts pasted to front endsheets, binding quite rubbed.Charteris, said to be the inspiration for Hogarth’s work “A Rake’s Progress,” was a nefarious character, a gambler and speculator who made a small fortune on the South Sea Bubble. He became infamous for his rampant greed and sexual proclivities. In 1730, Charteris was brought to trial at the Old Bailey for the rape of Ann Bond and after a guilty verdict was passed, he was sentenced to death at Newgate, but was granted a royal pardon not long thereafter. Upon his death in 1732, Charteris’s coffin was attacked en route to the graveyard and by some accounts, dead cats were thrown into his grave.