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Articles - January - 2011 Issue

A Death Once Thought Murder

- by Bruce E. McKinney

An early draft of a cold account

An early draft of a cold account

The printed broadside version, attributed to Poughkeepsie c 1800, reads:

 

A tribute to the memory of

Catherine Berrenger

of the Town of Rhinebeck

Who fell a victim to Death on the 4th day of November, in the year of our Lord 1800,

by swallowing a portion of Arsenic, supposed to be administered to her by JOHN

 BENNER, to whom she was promised in marriage, and who has been confi-

ned in the gaol of Poughkeepsie, Dutchess County, for the same offense.

 





The second version is Asa Dean's manuscript copy dated 1809:

 

A tribute of respect to the Memory of

Catharine Berring [er] 

of the town of Rhinebeck,

 who fell a victim, to death, on the 4th day of November 1800,

by swallowing a portion of Arsenic, supposed to be administered to her by John

Benner, to whom she was promised in marriage, and who is now confined

in the gaol of Poughkeepsie.

 

They are similar but not the same.

 

For this there are several possibilities.

 

The printed text is earlier and Mr. Dean inaccurately transcribed his version.

Rare Book Monthly

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    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Manuscript Signed Integrally for "The Songs of Pooh," by Alan Alexander. $30,000 - $50,000.
    Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Manuscript of "Three Fragments from Gˆtterd‰mmerung" by Richard Wagner. $30,000 - $50,000.
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    Sotheby’s, Dec. 17: Francesco Colonna. Hypnerotomachie, Paris, 1546, Parisian calf by Wotton Binder C for Marcus Fugger. €200,000 to €300,000.
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    Sotheby’s, Dec. 17: Billon. Le fort inexpugnable de l'honneur, Paris, 1555, Parisian calf gilt for Peter Ernst, Graf von Mansfeld. €120,000 to €180,000.
    Sotheby’s
    Book Week
    December 9-17, 2025
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: Salinger, J.D. The Graham Family archive, including autographed letters, an inscribed Catcher, a rare studio photograph of the author, and more. $120,000 to $180,000.
    Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: [Austen, Jane]. A handsome first edition of Sense and Sensibility, the author's first novel. $60,000 to $80,000.
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