24 résultats
186019599New York: N. Tibbals & Co 1860. First Edition. Publisher's blind-stamped cloth; gilt spine titles; viii 375pp; double engr. frontispiece. Spine gilt a little dulled; spotting & wear to covers; corners bumped; brief fraying at upper spine; quite fresh internally with faint foxing to double frontispiece plates; Very Good. SABIN 42631. Scarce pre-Civil War account of American prison life with descriptions of the prisoners' daily routines and sketches of various criminals' careers. The author was Chaplain of Sing Sing State Prison from 1843-1856 a period during which a number of novel reforms were initiated at Sing Sing including the practice of sorting criminals on the basis of phrenological diagnosis. N. Tibbals & Co unknown books
189234668Baltimore: Shaw Bros. Print 1892. First Edition. Small 12mo 15.5cm.; publisher's olive printed wrappers; 19pp. Previous owner has stitched the wrappers to textblock though the upper cover has since separated the stock rather brittle from age and poor quality with a few tiny chips and shallow losses along extremities. Still a Good unfaded copy contents in fine condition. Paper read by the Warden of the Western State Penitentiary in Pennsylvania. This printed version appears to be unrecorded though we do find mention of it in an issue of The Journal of Prison Discipline and Philanthropy from the same year. Wright blames the increase in crime in the United States to the arrival of "unworthy and undesirable immigrants" and argues that the answer is "sterner and more repressive lines" in prison discipline as a deterrant. We find no copies in OCLC as of August 2017 nor in the NUC. Shaw Bros. Print unknown books
186345485Boston: Ticknor and Fields 1863. First Edition. Octavo 18.5cm.; publisher's green blind-embossed cloth gilt-lettered spine top edge gilt brown glazed endpapers; 8432pp. Boards rather scuffed and worn textblock shaken in boards very faint tide stain at bottom edge of last few leaves else Good or better overall. Collection of seven short stories the detective story "In a Cellar" compared to Poe's works Dorri Beam "Style Gender and Fantasy in Nineteenth-Century American Women's Writing" 2010 p. 222. HUBIN p. 386; WRIGHT II 2338. Ticknor and Fields unknown books
187832526Chicago: Donnelley Lloyd & Co 1878. First Edition. Small octavo 18.5cm.; publisher's brown decorative cloth embossed in black and gilt blue-grey glazed endpapers; 256pp.; frontispiece full-page illus. throughout. Some light wear to extremities spine gilt rather dulled else Very Good or better. Memoir of the professional gambler/drunk-turned-evangelist. See BANTA's Indiana Authors and Their Books p. 195. Donnelley, Lloyd & Co unknown books
188416534Millerton N. Y. Millerton Telegram Print 1884. First edition. A couple of small chips from along the upper edges of the wrappers; a few light spots of toning and browning; a very good copy. 12mo original printed green wrappers 11 pages. All members of this Society shall hold themselves in readiness at the call of the managers for the pursuit of thieves." A nice Dutchess county imprint for this anti-crime society. OCLC notes copies at Harvard Law and Conn. Historical only. Millerton Telegram Print unknown books
189915339London: Greening & Co 1899. First Edition. Small octavo 19cm. Blue cloth boards lettered in red on spine and front cover; title page in black & red; 232pp; 8pp publishers ads at rear; frontispiece; text illus. Mild external rubbing; endpapers and text age-tanned but not brittle; Very Good. A charming survey of British low-life documenting the methods and practices of pick-pockets safe-crackers card sharpers portico thieves shoplifters forgers and other criminals in common circulation in Edwardian London. Includes a chapter on "Rogues and Vagabonds." With about 50 text illustrations all of a somewhat rudimentary character. An uncommon title. Greening & Co unknown books
185111374Albany: Charles Van Benthuysen State Printer 1851. First edition. Octavo 23cm.; original printed wrappers; 328pp. Moderate wear and soil; final ten or so leaves creased at upper right; Good or better. Includes a large ca. 20" x 22" folding plan of the newly-constructed prison at Sing Sing; this is foxed on verso but otherwise quite fresh with old folds secure and just light foxing onto image area. Charles Van Benthuysen [State Printer] unknown books
189635124London: Ward & Downey Limited 1896. First edition. 1 vols. 8vo. Original black pictorial cloth stamped in red and gilt. Fine. First edition. 1 vols. 8vo. Presents accounts of thirty famous crimes and criminals in 19th-century Britain including the Tichborne claimant Charles Peace John Bellingham James Cook Henry Blackburn John Holloway and others. Ward & Downey Limited unknown books
1884219833Washington D.C.: Thomas D. Worrall 1884. First edition. 207 1 ad pp. 1 vols. 12mo. Brick blind-stamped cloth. Spine slightly darkened else fine. Bookplate. First edition. 207 1 ad pp. 1 vols. 12mo. Thomas D. Worrall unknown books
186719303Cincinnati: n. p. 1867 First edition. Wrappers somewhat stained with some chipping and a few closed tears and some creasing to the rear wrapper; upper edges of the text block somewhat foxed and dust-soiled; a very good copy. Original printed blue-green wrappers 8.25 x 5.5 inches 128 pages. Accounts of some of Cincinnati's most memorable executions and murders including such episodes as "The Summons Massacre; Arrison and the Infernal Machine; Mrs. Howard who Avenged her own Wrongs; Nancy Farrer the Child Poisoner" and many more. With perhaps one of the finest known epigraphs in American literature with the title at the head of the front wrapper claiming "A Book for the Family." Sabin 19108; not found in McDade. [n. p.], unknown books
1829WRCAM53865Edinburgh 1829. viii47pp. Dbd. Two faint institutional stamps and one small ink number on titlepage light toning. Good. An interesting murder trial account involving a husband-and-wife poisoning team on a steamboat near Glasgow in the early-19th century. From the Introduction: "The case which forms the subject of the present publication is however a proof that there are other and equally subtile and perilous forms of committing murder; and the trial of John Stuart and Catherine Wright is published in its present authentic form as a warning to the people of Scotland against the approaches of a set of crimes which have always been perpetrated under the reign of the darkest vice and superstition which have clouded European society." Rare with only about a dozen copies over several records in OCLC. unknown books
182611366Boston: Various Publishers 1826-1829. Various Editions. Octavo 22cm.; cloth-backed boards with original paper spine label; 330pp paginated continuously but each report with a separate title page; six inserted leaves of woodcut plates. A solid well-preserved copy with scattered foxing to text; Very Good. First four reports of Timothy Dwight's pioneering Prison Discipline Society dedicated to the amelioration of the harsh conditions prevailing in American prisons during the early republic. With six woodcut plates mostly plans of prison buildlings and grounds. Various Publishers unknown books
186743987.1Cincinnati 1867. 1st Edition Sabin 19107. Original publisher's printed pale green wrappers. Some general wear soiling & light edge chipping to wrappers. A touch of foxing. Some paper loss at spine ends. Withal an About VG copy. 128 pp. 8vo. 8-1/4" x 5-1/2" <br/><br/>De Beck describes over 100 people who committed murders in and around Cincinnati. Curiously enough the front wrapper describes this volume as "A Book for the Family". Reissued later in the year with the author's name with the title amended to "The Horrors of Queen City. Being an Account.". unknown books
183444354Liverpool: W. Bethell Printer 1834. 1st printing presumed. Age-toned. Edge-chipping with largish chunk ~1" square from top edge just touching headline title. Old tape repair to the right of missing chunk. A Good copy. Broadside printed four column after a 9 line drophead title with two horizontal typographical ornament seperators. 19-1/2" x 15" <br/><br/>"Trial of William Riley aged 29; John Coakley aged 27; Thomas Simcock aged 18; and George Atkinson aged 28; by Sir Thomas Brancker for having feloniously borken and entered the Shop of Ralph Isaacs and stolen 80 Watches 130 Spoons 100 Rings 30 Forks and other Articles the Property of the said Ralph Isaacs -- Patrick Coakley aged 73 for receiving divers and sundry property knowing the same was stolen; and Elizabeth Cumpsty aged 35 charged upon oath with having feloniously incited aided and abetted hired and commanded John Coakley William Riley and Thomas Simcock feloniously to break and enter the Shop of Ralph Isaacs and steal therin the property before recited." So proclaims the headline of this crime broadside followed by 4 columns of text describing the trial of the accused individuals with the result that the jury "after being absent for about half-an-hour returned and found all the prisoners GUILTY." No copies found on OCLC. Rare. W. Bethell, Printer unknown books
188741538Saint John N. B.: Printed by Geo. W. Day Corner Prince Wm. and Princess Sts 1887. "Fifth Edition" stated. The First Edition published in 1816 cf. Sabin 3947; Watters p. 462. Late 19th C. 3/4 blue sheep binding with marbled paper boards. Marbled eps. Original pale green printed wrappers retained. Rear wrapper an advert for Geo. Day. Binding shows some extremity wear. Original wrappers & text paper show age-toning with rear wrapper having a chip from the fore-edge. A VG copy. 82 pp. Wood engraved vignette to front wrapper. 8vo. 8" x 5-1/4" <br/><br/>"Henry More Smith also known as Henry Frederick Moon Henry J. Moon Henry Hopkins Henry Frederick More Smith and William Newman was a confidence man master puppeteer hypnotist seer liar and above all else a superlative escape artist who lived for a while in New Brunswick Canada. Chains handcuffs shackles even made-to-fit iron collars could not hold him." Wiki. The author Bates was the sheriff of Kings' County New Brunswick. Uncommon in the trade. Printed by Geo. W. Day, Corner Prince Wm. and Princess Sts hardcover books
181330782Rennes: Chez Cousin-Danelle Imprimeur de la Cour Impériale 1813. l sheet consisting of three leaves. 1 vols. FOLIO 20 x 46 inches. Broadside. Some marginal discoloration and creasing else very good. l sheet consisting of three leaves. 1 vols. FOLIO 20 x 46 inches. Broadside of Criminals in Napoleonic France. Lists the date of arrest the court identifies the criminal with age profession address a physical description crime and punishment citing the applicable laws next to them. Chez Cousin-Danelle, Imprimeur de la Cour Impériale unknown books
184119189Boston: Published by S. G. Simpkins 1841. First edition. Some trifling wear and soiling; a fine copy. 16mo original blind-stamped diaper grain blue cloth gilt lettering 48 pages. No man of ordinary observation can pass through the streets of New York or Philadelphia without meeting numerous living witnesses of the misery which exists in both of those cities and especially in the former. Enough can be seen in Boston to make any benevolent heart ache daily for suffering humanity. But still the amount is less in proportion to population than in either of the other two cities. Through the influence of better laws for education intellectual culture the best preservative from vice and crime is more generally diffused in Boston than in Philadelphia; and from its geographical position Boston is not like New York the common resort of the squalid poverty that seeks refuge on our shores from Europe." A fairly nuanced sociological criminal and economic argument for temperance among the laboring classes pointing to the savings in cost of drinks and to the economic advantages of sober fathers; additional aspersions are cast as well on adulteration of wines and liquors. Originally published as a series in Boston Daily Times here collected and published with a prefatory Advertisement dated May 1841 and signed by a committee of Boston advocates of temperance. Includes an appendix of collected statistics on inmates at the jails and house of correction juvenile crime insane asylum numbers etc. OCLC 6/2019 notes two locations. Published by S. G. Simpkins, unknown books
18672143Cincinnati: s.n. 1867. FIRST EDITION. Softcover. Good. Original publisher's printed pale green wrappers chipped. 128 pp. 8vo. 8-1/4" x 5-1/2". Some general wear & soiling. A touch of foxing. Unsightly abrasion to rear wrapper resulting in some loss. "A Book for the Family" in which are described in the most graphic detail over 100 murders in Cincinnati and environs. This highly curious volume represents a genuinely early American work in the literary genre now known as "True Crime" about which see especially Mark Steltzer "True Crime: Observations on Violence and Modernism" 2007 passim. True Crime as a form of entertainment created important American pop culture icons namely the sociopaths the psychopath the mass murderer and the serial killer all of whom are represented herein. The full title adds useful information about the crimes including: "Trials and Executions of John May ; Philip Lewis colored ; John Cowan the Murderer of his Family ; Washburn and his Associates Davis and Hoover the Butchers of over 30 Persons ; Byron Cooley who killed John Rambo ; Henry Lecount ; Patrick McHugh the Murderer of his own Wife ; and a Careful History of the Hughes Murderers with a Precise Account of the Murder of John Brasher the Watchman ; the Summons Massacre ; Arrison and the Infernal Machine ; Mrs. Howard who Avenged her Own Wrongs ; Nancy Farrer the Child Poisoner ; with a Correct Detail of Over a Hundred Other Murders which have Taken Place in this City and County." Scarce. ¶ Sabin 19107. s.n. unknown books
18891461Penryn Ca 1889. About very good. Broadside 9 x 6.75 inches. Trimmed unevenly corners clipped lightly tanned. Contemporary pencil notation at bottom of sheet. Broadside advertising a reward for the arrest of Henry Kaiser for the abduction of Miss Amy Douglas taken from the little town of Penryn in Placer County on Sunday June 2 1889. Kaiser is described as "aged 47 years height about 5 ft. 10 1-2 inches brown hair blue eyes brown light moustache cut square slightly stooped shouldered plays violin carried with him a violin and black satchel." Miss Douglas is described as well: "aged 14 years about 5 ft. 1 1-2 or 2 in. high large blue eyes light hair wears it in a braid and cut short in front and banged very awkward cannot read or write." The reward is offered by a J.H. Frost and a pencil note seems to indicate that he was a real estate and insurance agent. A newspaper article from the San Francisco Chronicle of June 24 1889 relates that the two eloped. Kaiser was a divorcé and the son of a well-known winemaker in the area. The two were located in Portland Oregon having unsuccessfully tried to gain a marriage license due to Amy's young age. Another article indicates that Amy fled cruelty at home her father having consented to her marrying Kaiser when she turned sixteen. In any case Kaiser was discharged from criminal prosecution having been found to have acted honorable with regards to the girl. An interesting story and the broadside is unrecorded. unknown books
185946765New-York: George W. Matsell & Co 1859. First Edition. Small 12mo 12.5cm.; publisher's blue pebble-grained blind-embossed cloth gilt-lettered spine dark brown glazed endpapers; vi7-1301adpp. Boards gently scuffed corners bumped else a Very Good quite brilliant copy. Early American slang dictionary by a commissioner of the New York City police force about two-thirds of the work plagiarized from English sources though the author here claims that "Occupying the position of a Special Justice and Chief of the Police of the great Metropolis of New-York where thieves and others of a like character from all parts of the world congregate and realizing the necessity of possessing a positive knowledge of every thing connected with the class of individuals with whom it was my duty to deal I was naturally led to study their peculiar language" p. iv. The work appears to be aimed at readers of Matsell's newspaper the "National Police Gazette" advertized on the last leaf of text. A random dip into the early leaves reveals such unknown slang words as "Ard" hot though the OED only defines this as an obsolete form of "Hard." More recognizable listings appear under "Cow" a dilapidated prostitute while her "grease" is butter her "juice" is milk and "Cows and Kisses" applies to the ladies. George W. Matsell & Co unknown books
1874313368Philadelphia 1874. Together 4 items. Together 4 items. The Kidnapping of Little Charley Ross. Four items relating to the abduction of Charley Brewster Ross the first instance of kidnapping for ransom in the United States. On July 1 1874 four-year-old Charley was abducted from the sidewalk in front of his father's house in Germantown Pennsylvania by two men in a buggy offering the promise of candy and fireworks. Soon after Charlie's father received a note demanding $20000 for the safe return of his son. Mr. Ross went to the police the case caught the attention of the press and soon it became a national sensation. A group of prominent Philadelphians raised money to hire the Pinkerton Agency who produced and widely disseminated reward posters and handbills. <br/>Of the two examples offered here the first is a three page leaflet with a mounted photographic portrait of the boy at the top in which a $20000 reward is offered for the safe return of the child detailed circumstances of the kidnapping are provided as are descriptions of the child and kidnappers along with a section of "Questions for Identification." <br/>The second example is a broadside with an engraved image of the child at the top offering the reward and providing a description of Ross and the kidnappers. <br/><br/>Though several attempts to deliver the ransom were made the kidnappers never appeared; shortly after two men were killed during a burglary in Brooklyn and one of them confessed with his dying words that they were the kidnappers. His claims were ultimately determined to be credible however the boy was never found. Charley's father published his own account of the affair a copy of which is present here to raise money to continue the search which he and his wife kept up for the rest of their lives. The case left an indelible mark on the American psyche and as late as the 1930s people were still coming forward claiming to be the missing boy<br/><br/><br/>1. "Abduction of Charley Brewster Ross." Printed handbill 3 pp with applied photographic print on front page. 8vo. Philadelphia: printed by Wm. F. Murphy's Sons for the Pinkerton National Detective Agency August 1874. $850<br/>2. "$20000 Reward has been offered for the recovery of Charlie Brewster Ross and for the arrest and conviction of his abductors." Printed broadside 275 x 144 mm signed in print at bottom "Allan Pinkerton" and "Pinkerton's National Detective Agency" with woodcut portrait of Charley Ross at top laid down imprint lacking.<br/>3. "Little Charlie Ross the Stolen Child." Boston: Dexter Smith 1874. Printed cover page only for sheet music with oval lithograph portrait of Charley Ross 209 x 160 mm. Browning chipping at bottom edge. <br/>4. Ross Christian K. The Father's Story of Charley Ross the Kidnapped Child. Illustrated. Thick 8vo. Philadelphia: John E. Potter and Company 1876. First edition. Original cloth good only. unknown books
1808WRCAM53841New York 1808. 56pp. Dbd. Faint institutional ink stamp and embossed blindstamp to titlepage minor toning light foxing. Overall very good. A curious and rare account of the trial of Alexander Whistelo a black man accused of leaving Lucy Williams a mulatto with child. A controversy ensued as sundry doctors stated that the child was the offspring of white parents. In addition a witness attested to a white man visiting Ms. Williams: "The witness.confessed that such a person had been in bed with her: that he had turned the black man out with a pistol and taken his place - that they had a connexion; but she said she was sure they had made no one young one." In the end Whistelo was acquitted. SABIN 103312. SHAW & SHOEMAKER 14750. unknown books
185257744New Orleans Charleston Baltimore and Philadelphia: A.R. Orton 1852. the original wrapper was dated 1853 apparently accounting for that date being used in each of the three OCLC listings. First edition of this rather primitively printed pamphlet. 8vo. 2 11-36 pp. Portrait frontispiece three wood-engraved plates. OCLC: "Sensational and presumably fictitious account of the criminal career of Margaret C. Waldegrave probably written by the publishers" the author of several similar lurid tales in the early 1850s. Contemporary pencil inscription on verso of frontispiece "Allow one vol. / plain binding / leather back." Not in Wright "American Fiction" McDade "Annals of Murder" or Jumonville "New Orleans Imprints." OCLC locates four copies American Antiquarian Soc. New York Historical Soc. Juniata British Library; AAS also holds a prospectus broadside for the work. Some interior foxing and soiling corner of one leaf renewed not affecting text. Recent plain gray wrappers. #4698. <br/><br/> A.R. Orton hardcover books
1840WRCAM53792Sydney: W.A. Duncan Australasian Chronicle Office 1840. 52pp. Dbd. Minor toning some loose leaves. Good. A rare trial account of a peculiar though perhaps an oddly-justified assault in Australia in 1840. "James Mudie had in his book THE FELONRY OF NEW SOUTH WALES reflected upon the capacity of Kinchela's father in his office as judge. The younger Kinchela waited for Mudie who had recently returned to the colony and administered many lashes one witness said 50 with a horsewhip. The defence was that Mudie well deserved what he got as a common libeller and that Judge Kinchela was now aged and unable to take his own part. The jury returned a verdict for the plaintiff in the sum of £50 - one pound for each stroke" - Ferguson. Some might call the horsewhipping a simple case of frontier justice. <br> <br> Together Ferguson and OCLC locate only five copies all in Australia. FERGUSON 3104. OCLC 220294602. W.A. Duncan, Australasian Chronicle Office unknown books
