If you click the thumbnail image to the left, you will see a portrait of a most remarkable woman. That is a mezzotint of a painting by John Laguerre (circa 1730) of Mary Toft, a housewife from Godalming. On her lap you will notice a rabbit. The rabbit was not Mrs. Toft's pet. No, it was one of her children. You may find this hard to believe, but Mrs. Toft gave birth to 17 rabbits. However, they were not born in a litter, as standard practice for rabbits, but in succession, several under great medical scrutiny. Even then there were disbelievers. Mrs. Toft explained that she had become obsessed with rabbits, and her intense interest in them led to her giving birth to bunnies. While this is not a very good biological theory, many people, including the King's physician, were convinced, particularly after observing Mrs. Toft give birth to a furry critter. Well, to make a long story short, she was faking it. That she was able to pull off such a fake and convince a bunch of eminent physicians that she was giving birth to rabbits is almost as unbelievable as actually giving birth to rabbits, but she was finally caught and admitted to the hoax. Rather than gaining 15 minutes of fame, it is most likely Mrs. Toft hoped to gain some sort of government pension for her unusual capacity. Item 36. £450 ($661).

Samuel Gedge Ltd. Rare Books may be reached at +44 (0)1263 722 555 or rarebooks@samuelgedge.com. Their website is www.samuelgedge.com.