Wainewright The Poisoner by Andrew Motion

Wainewright The Poisoner

The confession of Thomas Griffiths Wainewright 

by Andrew Motion

Alfred A. Knopf, 2000 [First American Edition], b/w photographic plates, deckled edges, hardcover, dustjacket, ISBN 0375402098

Very Good Condition, a little edge and shelf wear, dustjacket shows a little edge and shelf wear (see photographs)

'In a time rich in unlikely characters, Thomas Griffiths Wainewright (1794-1847) was one of the strangest of all.  A painter, writer, well-known London dandy and friend of most of the major figures of the Romantic era (from Blake to Byron, form John Clare to John Keats, Lamb, De Quincey and Hazlitt), he was also almost certainly a murderer, possibly several times over.  Arrested and convicted of forgery - evidence was lacking to prove the murders - he was transported for life to the barbarous penal colony of Tasmania, where, years later, he died in obscurity.  Behind him he left only rumours and fragments of documents, and a legend of evil that fascinated such writers as Charles Dickens and Oscar Wilde.
As a distinguished biographer (of Philip Larkin and John Keats, among others), Andrew Motion has been notably successful in pinning down the often elusive details of Wainewright's life.'