(MADIAI, Francesco & Rosa) Letters of the Madiai, and visits to their prisons. By the Misses Senhouse. FIRST EDITION. James Nisbet & Co. 1853
Half title, hand-coloured front., 4pp ads. Orig. purple cloth; largely faded to brown, spine a little worn. Contemp. inscription on leading f.e.p.: 'To the library of Trinity Presbyterian Church...'; Book label of Anne & F.G. Renier.
¶Francesco and Rosa Madiai, of Tuscany, were arrested and imprisoned for their Protestant beliefs following the revoking of the 1848 constitution and the end of religious tolerance. They were sentenced to 56 and 45 months imprisonment causing a public and political furore in Britain due to their religious persecution - and their connection to members of the English nobility. Queen Victoria, the Prime Minister and much of the general public were in outrage at the treatment of the Madiai, and after much political wrangling, they were released in March 1853.