CRIMEBiblio.com
CRIMEBiblio.com
Mysteries and Refinements of Modern Roguery.
1886140042London: Irwin Langley & Co. 1886. Advice to Strangers" - avoiding the criminal pitfalls of 1880s London First and only edition of this extraordinary little volume offering practical advice against the thieves and tricksters plaguing the streets of London. The first half of the text is a spotter's guide on pickpockets "Who they are and what they are like" with explanations of their methods the distraction of the "stall" the techniques of the "wire" given in sufficient detail and with such specifics as to suggest that the author genuinely was of the profession claimed. The second section offers "Advice for Strangers" to the metropolis illuminating the operations of the "Mysterious Dental Rooms" "swell assignations houses" that thrive on the "carnal weaknesses of casual visitors to the city"; forwards an explanation for "the mysterious disappearances which are almost daily reported" the lure of "a pretty face snapping black eyesand red lips" drinks in a café ending with a "bloated disfigured swollen corpse" pulled from the river; and looks into the "women and young girls who have a great mania for disappearing". A respectable and highly cultivated young girl in Liverpool taking "short cut through a disreputable part of town" reappears in London the story never made public but understood to be "horrible in the extreme". The final sections comprise a short piece on "the Dark Ways of Street-sharpers" and a lengthier description of a rather complicated American scam to illustrate "High Class and Ingenious Roguery on a Grand Style" followed by a brief explanation of cipher writing and reading which concludes with a "Prize Competition £1000 in Prizes" requiring the solution of three ciphered messages. Noting well what has gone before this has more than a hint of "roguery" to it but where the catch might have been is beyond our wit to discover. We have been unable to trace any other publications or enterprises put out over the name of Irwin Langley & Co. Scarce just two locations world-wide BL and Harvard Medical School. Octavo 180 x 120 mm. Portrait frontispiece 6 stock portraits in text one full-page illustrations in text printed in menacing sanguine throughout. Wire-stitched in original green cloth-backed sanguine printed boards. A little rubbed and soiled head and tail of spine chipped hinges with some give to them but sound staples rusted but intact text block lightly browned overall very good. hardcover
Peter Harrington · Royaume-Uni1 500,00 £GB≈ 1 712,70 €
