Autograph Note Signed by “The Great Defender” —famed lawyer Sir Edward Marshall Hall.

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Transmitted note on embossed address card, 3½ x 4½ inches, sent by “The Great Defender” —famed lawyer Sir Edward Marshall Hall (1858–1927) to E. Lonsdale Deighton. In full: “If you will send the sheet to my clerk at 3 Temple Garden on Thursday he will see that it signed that day. E. Marshall Hall.”

The card is postmarked September 6, 1922 and Deighton was likely Hall’s client. He authored The British Legion Album: in aid of Field-Marshal Earl Haig’s appeal for ex-service men of all ranks (1924).

Hall became one England’s greatest celebrity lawyers of the late Victorian and early Edwardian periods. His good looks, eloquence, and expert skills in the defense of his clients made his services desirable after several high profile criminal cases.

“He enjoyed, perhaps, a greater reputation with the public than with his profession but at his best he was a powerful advocate, and always the kindest and most generous of leaders. His strength lay in his ability to challenge expert witnesses by ensuring that he became sufficiently knowledgeable about the scientific aspects of each case, and in his ability to persuade a jury to believe as strongly as he did that his clients had acted properly, be it in a civil or criminal case.” (ODNB)

Price: $350.00