By George Purkess.
The Adventures of a Notorious Burglar. “An extraordinary book about the life of a proffessional burglar/murderer. The subject Peace was gifted in many ways, talented violinist, good with his hands in picture framing, carpentry, etc, but instead chose this life of crime. The book describes a grim picture of prison life at that time.”
London: Strand, W.C., 1879. 2740p.
By Frank Aydelotte.
“The essay which follows has grown out of a study of a number of Elizabethan pamphlets dealing with rogues and vagabonds, the most important of which are the Conny-catching series of Robert Greene and the Caueat for Commen Cursetors of Thomas Harman. ' Conny-catching ' was an Elizabethan slang word for a particular method of cheating at cards, but it came to be used in a general sense for all kinds of tricks by which rogues and sharpers beguiled simple people of their money. Greene passed a large part of his life among the worst company to be found in London. During the two years before his death, moved, as he professed, by repentance, he published the series of Conny-catching pamphlets, exposing the tricks of this wicked crew of sharpers in order that innocent folk might read and take warning. The books are vivid and well written, and they picture an elaborately organized profession of roguery with a language of its own and a large number of well-defined methods and traditions. There was a live esprit de corps among the thieves, and a pride in clever and dexterous work which made their profession more of an art than a trade. All this Greene explains in detail. The first question that any reader would ask himself after finishing these very entertaining descriptions of the art.”
Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press, 1913. 187p.
Edited by Howard Pyle.
Being an Account of the Famous Adventures and Daring Deeds of Certain Notorious Freebooters of the Spanish Main. 2nd ed. A genuine account of four notorious pirates [by Charles Johnson] of four notorious pirates: Captain Teach . Captain William Kidd. Captain Bartholomew Roberts and his crew. Captain Avery and his crew.
London: T.Fisher Unwin, 1892. 403p.
By George M. White.
Or, the price of persecution, how a successful business man, through the miscarriage of justice, became a notorious bank looter. “How a Successful Businessman, Through the Miscarriage of Justice, Became a Notorious Bank Looter" was originally published in 1907. The author, George White, was also known as George Bliss. He and his gang robbed (or attempted to rob) banks along the East Coast (from New York to Philly). There are chapters on the Walpole bank burglary, Cadiz bank loot, police and sheriffs, the Pinkerton Detective Agency, corrupt bank clerks, Jim Irving, lock pickers, Columbus prison, Jim Burns, William Hatch, detectives, and much more.”
Bellows Falls, CT: Traux Printing, 1905. 495p.
By Thomas Wilson.
“Being the history of Gilles de Retz of Brittany, France, who was executed at Nantes in 1440 a.d. and who was the original of blue-beard in the tales of mother goose (subtitle) .
New York: G.P. Putnams, 1899. 251p.
By Harry Hawkeye [i.e. P. E. Lowe]
A Book Of Thrilling Adventure And Desperate Deeds, Narrating Actual Facts As Obtained From Principals And Eyewitnesses. . Rube Burrow was a prolific train robber during the 1880s and 1890s..
Baltimore: I. & M. Ottenheimer, 1908. 196p.
Anonymous.
Tthe Notorious Union Pacific and Texas Train Robber. Together with a graphic account of his capture, and death, sketch of the members of his band, with thrilling pen pictures of their many bold and desperate deeds, and the capture and death of Collins, Berry, Barnes, and Arkansas Johnson.
Dallas, TX: Dallas Commercial Steam Print, 1878. 89p
By Augustus C. Appler.
A Romantic but faithful story of bloodshed and plunder, perpetrated by Missouri's Daring Outlaws. The life, character and daring exploits of the Younger brothers, ... also, the war record of Quantrell.
Chicago: Belford, Clarke & Co., 1889.
By Martin Cash.
Comprising a faithful account of his exploits, while a bushranger under arms in Tasmania, in company with Kavanagh and Jones, in the year 1843. “The subjoined sketches of buskranging life in Van Diemen’s Land were strung together in the form of a narrative, at the solicitation of a. number of respectable and influential colonists in Tasmania, Sydney, -and Melbourne, particularly the former territory, where the principal incidents described in the narrative occurred ; and where many are still living who can vouch for the fidelity of the pictures of Bush Life which are delineated in the following pages, illustrative of the evils arising from the misapplication and undue severity of prison discipline in the- early days of the Colony. It is not with a view of extolling his exploits, or those of lies companions when under arms in the Bush, nor yet of presenting himself in the character of a hero, that the Author has been induced to narrate his adventures, his chief object being to present a faithful portraiture of the modus operandi of that discipline so indiscriminately exercised without reference to individuals or the moral, or physical capabilities of that unfortunate class to which it was applied ; and at the same time endeavouring to show that the social and moral condition of the Colony was mainly affected by the exercise of that discipline, the rigours of which had driven numbers of the more deserving of that class to finish their wretched career on the scaffold ; but who under a. a more humane svstem of coercion might have been restored to freedom.”
Hobart Town: Printed at the "Mercury" Steam Press, 1870. 177p.
By Seymour B. Durst.
“If the production of highly finished scoundrels ever becomes a matter of emulation among the nations of the earth, patriotism, a national pride in our country, and the undeniable facts in the case lead us to assert, that America need yield the palm to none and should there ever be a great World Exhibition of Rogues, in which all nations shall vie with each other in producing fine assortments of scamps, we modestly claim in behalf of our beloved city of New York the very first place for its fine corps of swindlers.”
Boston: C.H. Brainard, 1857. 64p.
By Charles Whibley.
A volume of essays. “ While murder is well-nigh as old as life, property and the pocket invented theft, late-born among the arts. It was not until avarice had devised many a cunning trick for the protection of wealth, until civilisation had multiplied the forms of portable property, that thieving became a liberal and an elegant profession.”
Macmillan (1897) 284 pages.
By Henry M. Hunt.
The Assassination of Henry Patrick Cronin.. A Complete and Authentic History of the Greatest of Modern Conspiracies. Apart from its value as a history of a celebrated case, the story itself is of thrilling and fascinating interest.
Harrow and Heston Classic Reprint. Kochersperger (1889) 574 pages.
By S. Buchner
A compilation of some 250 short biographies of criminals, their captors, and prosecutors.
Read-Me.Org Classic Reprint. (1888) New York. . 123p.
By Samuel L. Bailey
By an Ex-Convict.. “It was while serving the last days of my five years' sentence in Clinton Prison, that I began to think of what I could do to earn an honest living after I should once more be a free man….”
Goddard NY. 1889. 150 pages.
By W. Kilby Reynolds.
Celebrated cases before the courts in St. John. N. B. Cases including: The Mispeck Tragedy; Redburn the Sailor; Burgan the “boy” burglar; and the Murder of Clayton Tilton at Musquash. Compiled from the most authentic sources.
Progress Electric Print (1895) 105 pages.
W. H. Allen.
Or The Confessions of a Celebrated Dacoit, by an Indian Detective.
Harrow and Heston Classic Reprint. (1891) 346 pages.
By Jane Addams.
With Autobiographical Notes. “While on a trip to East London in 1883, Jane Addams witnessed a distressing scene late one night: masses of poor people were bidding on rotten vegetables that were unsalable anywhere else. This scene haunted Addams for the next two years as she traveled through Europe, and she hoped to find a way to ease such suffering. Five years later, she visited Toynbee Hall, a London settlement house, and resolved to replicate the experiment in the U.S. On September 18, 1889, Jane Addams and her friend Ellen Starr moved into the second floor of a rundown mansion in Chicago's West Side. From the outset, they imagined Hull-House as a "center for a higher civic and social life" in the industrial districts of the city. Addams, Starr, and several like-minded individuals lived and worked among the poor, establishing (among other things) art classes, discussion groups, cooperatives, a kindergarten, a coffee house, a lending library, and a gymnasium. In a time when many well-to-do Americans were beginning to feel threatened by immigrants, Hull-House embraced them, showed them the true meaning of democracy, and served as a center for philanthropic efforts throughout Chicago. Hull-House also provided an outlet for the energies of the first generation of female college graduates, who were educated for work yet prevented from doing it. In some respects, however, Addams's impressive work, often hailed by historians as "revolutionary," was nothing of the sort. She embraced the sexual stereotypes of her day, and, though she was clearly an independent woman, soothed public fears by acting primarily in the traditional roles of nurturer and caregiver. Hull-House was a rousing success, and it inspired others to follow in Addams's footsteps. Though Twenty Years at Hull-House is meant to be an autobiography, it is Hull-House itself that stands in the spotlight. Addams devotes the first third of the book to her upbringing and influences, but the remainder focuses on the organization she built--and the benefits accruing to those who work with the poor as well as to the poor themselves. At times Addams's prose is difficult to follow, but her ideals and her actions are truly inspiring. A classic work of history--and a model for today's would-be philanthropists.” (From Amazon).
New York: Macmillan, 1912. 462p.
By Will Irwin.
As Told to Will Irwin. “When these confessions appeared serially, friends and distant enquirers took it for granted that they were fiction; that I had stitched together, from the experiences of many grafters, the biography of a typical one. I hasten to assure the reader that this is a genuine confession; that I figure in it but as the transcriber of a life story told me I believe with every conscientious effort at truth during a month of pleasant association in New York. As a reporter, a little skilled in distinguishing the truth from the lie, I believed, when I wrote, in the sincerity of this story. Since then letters from his old companions of the road, who wished to be put into communication with him again, have confirmed detail after detail. I have disguised a name or a locality here and there ; otherwise I have set down only what he told me, trying through it all to give some flavor of the man and his vocabulary.”
New York: B.W. Huebsch, 1909. 182p.
By Andrew Knapp and William Baldwin.
Comprising interesting memoirs of the most notorious characters who have been convicted of outrages on the laws of England since the commencement of the eighteenth century; with occasional anecdotes and observations, speeches, confessions, and last exclamations of sufferers.
London: J. Robins and Co., 1824. 416p.
By Charles G. Harper.
Picturesque biographies and traditions of the " knights of the road" “When Harrison Ainsworth wrote Rookwood family,that fantastic romance of highway robbery and the impossible exploits of the Rookwood family, he did a singular injustice to a most distinguished seventeenth-century highwayman, John Nevison by name, and transferred the glory of his wonderful ride to York to Dick Turpin, who never owned a " Black Bess," and who never did anything of the kind.”
London. Chapmen and Hall (1908) 372p.
