163 résultats
196328500New York: E. P. Dutton & Co 1963. First edition. Hardcover. Near Fine/near fine. Hardbound octavo in dustwrapper. Stated first edition. 188 pp. Exceptionally nice copy in dustwrapper of this collection of crime and suspense stories by the author of The Screaming Mimi and Night of the Jabberwock. A handsome near fine copy in price-intact dustwrapper. One of the author's scarcest titles especially hard to find in this condition. E. P. Dutton & Co hardcover 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
1913WRCAM52964Huntsville Tx 1913. Four small broadsides approximately 11 x 8 inches with attached photographs. Printed forms completed in typescript. Three forms with chips and tears somewhat affecting text mounted on white card stock. Browning at edges evidence of tape repairs. Photos with some slight mirroring. Good. Four wanted notices dating to just before World War I for men escaped from the Huntsville Prison in Texas. The men are convicted thieves and burglars sentenced to terms ranging from two to seven years. The forms each bearing the same printed masthead are completed in typescript with descriptions of the escapee's appearance notable features residence crime committed and place of escape. A photograph mugshot of the men in question are attached to the upper portion of each form. 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
197923624London: Robert Hale 1979. First UK edition. Hardcover. Near Fine/near fine. Small hardbound 8vo. First UK and first hardbound edition of this early Matthew Scudder crime novel. Published in the US in 1976 as a paperback original. Topstain lightly dusted else a fine copy in near fine price-intact dustwrapper with a couple of small chips an wear to spine tips. SIGNED by the author on the front endpaper. A lovely copy of what has become Block's scarcest hardbound title. Robert Hale hardcover books
196613662New York: William Morrow 1966. First edition. Hardcover. Near Fine/very good. First edition of the author's first book an espionage novel that won the Edgar Award for Best First Novel of the Year. Crimp at top of spine else an exceptional copy in very good price intact dustwrapper with some creases and closed tears. Lightly toned at spine as often seen. A better than typical copy of this classic. William Morrow hardcover books
195019794Bearsville NY: Retort Press 1950. First Edition. 8vo. Stiff printed pictorial wraps in original dustjacket. One of 2000 copies "entirely hand-set hand-bound and printed on a footpedal press by the editors." Jacket lightly rubbed with some chipping esp. to lower spine. Faint staining. Unclipped. Mild wear to yapp edge of book. Very good overall. INSCRIBED in pencil by contributor James Peck to verso of front endpaper: "Mildred - You said you wanted to read what I wrote about the jig. Well here is some of it and some of what others wrote. It gives you the feel of jailhouse sic. I think the book will interest you. I think they did a groovy job on the cover. -Jim." <br/><br/>Noted but slightly misleadingly-titled "anthology of the Prison Writings of Conscientious Objectors to World War II" front flap inscribed by one of its contributors legendary activist and pacifist James Peck. Peck devoted himself to nonviolent resistance and in addition to serving three years at Danbury for refusing to serve during the war he fought for decades for labor peace and civil rights and was arrested dozens of times during his life. Indeed he was a prominent figure in the 1970s prison reform movement in no small measure because of his numerous incarcerations whose earliest experiences are detailed here. Includes a lengthy jacket blurb by Aldous Huxley Bromer B75 as well as striking illustrations by Lowell Naeve. While the book is not terribly uncommon it is complete and in collectible condition. And scarce when inscribed by a contributor. An interesting inscription even almost certainly a later one given the slang. Retort Press paperback 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
1781302787In Venezia ed in Torino: Per il Giuliano 1781. 4 pp. 8vo. Later drab boards. Some foxing and staining to text paper repair to lower corner of second leaf. 4 pp. 8vo. An apparently unrecorded work on the grisly murder of Francis Cestonaro in 1779 by his wife Veneranda Porta and her lover Stefano Fantini. Cestonaro's body was cut up and the various parts dumped in the Venice canals. The murderers were hanged and Fantini was fittingly drawn and quartered. The story has passed into Venetian legend - William Dean Howells recounts it in Venetian Life as one of the three quintessential Venetian tragic legends that every gondolier has at the ready to recount. Not in OCLC Per il Giuliano 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
