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FICTION and MEDIA

CRIME AND MEDIA — TWO PEAS IN A POD

Memoirs of the Notorious Stephen Burroughs

By Stephen Burroughs.

Excerpt from Memoirs of Stephen Burroughs: A New and Revised Edition; With an Appendix, Containing Authentic Facts Respecting the Latter Part of His Life. In relating the facts of my life to you, I shall endeavor to give' as simple an account of them as I am able, without coloring or darkening any circumstances although the relation of many matters will give me a degree and kind of pain, which only they who feel can describe. I have often lamented my neglect of keeping minutes of the occurrences of my life, from time to time, when they were fresh in my memory, and alive to my feelings the disadvantage of which I now feel, when I come to run over in my mind the chain which has connected the events together. Many circumstances are entirely lost, and many more so obscurely remembered, that I shall not even attempt to give them a place in this account. Not to trouble you with any more preta tory remarks, I will proceed to the relation. I am the only son of a clergyman, living in Hanover, ih the State of new-hampshire; and, were any to expect merit from their parentage, I might {ustly look for that merit. But I am so far a republican, that I consider a man's merit to rest entirely with himself, without any regard to family, blood.

Boston: C. Gaylord, 1835. 370p.

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The Rogues and Rogueries of New York

Anonymous.

A full and complete exposure of all the swindles and rascalities carried on or originated in the metropolis.

New York: J.C. Haney, 1865. 118p.

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The History of Burke and Hare

By George MacGregor.

A Fragment From The Criminal Annals Of Scotland . The history of the Scottish nation has, unfortunately, been stained with many foul crimes, perpetrated either to serve personal ends and private ambition, or under the pretence of effecting the increased welfare of the people. But of all the criminal events that have occurred in Scotland, few have excited so deep, widespread, and lasting an interest as those which took place during what have been called the Resurrectionist Times, and notably, the dreadful series of murders perpetrated in the name of anatomical science by Burke and Hare.

Harrow and Heston Classic Reprint. (1884) 331 pages.

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Rube Burrow, king of outlaws, and his band of train robbers

By George W. Agee.

An accurate and faithful history of their exploits and adventures,. Since the days of the James and Younger brothers, bold types of Western outlawry, which 'were the 'immediate products of the late civil war, no banditti have challenged s"iich uiii- versal attention as those led by the famous out- law, Rube Burrow. The press of the country has woven, from the wildest woof of fancy, full many a fiction touching his daring deeds, and manufacturers of sensational literature have made of the bandit as mystical a genius as the "Headless Hessian of Sleepy Hollow." With the view of correcting the erroneous ac- counts heretofore given the public, I have yielded to the solicitations of many friends in the Express service and consented to give a faithful and accurate history, compiled from the official reports of the detectives, detailing the daring deeds, the thrilling scenes and hair-breadth escapes of the outlaw and his band of highwaymen. Important confessions of some of the principal participants in the eight train robberies committed, covering a period of nearly four years, are also given, withont color of fiction or the caprice of fancy. It is the province of this volume, therefore, not to laud evil endeavor, but rather to chronicle the hapless fate of those who, turning aside from the paths of peace and honor, elect to tread.

Chicago: The Henneberry Company, 1890. 224p.

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Kentucky's Famous Feuds and Tragedies

By Charles Gustavus Mutzenberg.

Authentic history of the world renowned vendettas of the dark and bloody ground. The feudal wars of Kentucky have, in the past, found considerable publicity through newspapers. Unfortunately, many newspaper re- porters dealing with this subject were either deprived of an opportunity to make a thorough in- vestigation of the facts, or permitted their imagination to supply what they had failed to obtain. At any rate, the result was distortion of the truth and exaggeration. Exaggeration is not needed to make Kentucky's feudal wars of thrilling, intensely gripping interest to every reader.

New York: R.F. Fenno & company, 1917. 344p.

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Famous Kentucky Tragedies and Trials

By L. F. Johnson.

A collection of important and interesting tragedies and criminal trials which have taken place in Kentucky. Tragic events in the history of our own State ought to serve a good purpose. Every event detailed in this work is given as a matter of history. Some allowance may be made for the ordinary exaggeration of the newspaper reporter who may have colored his story for the purpose of adding zest to it, but practically all the dates and a large part of the evidence have been taken from court records and the re- ports of the Court of Appeals. A few ' ' skeletons ' ' in the closets of prominent Kentuckians are exhibited to the present generation for the first time. These disclosures are not made for the purpose of humiliating any person ; they are given as historic facts in order that this and succeeding generations may upon the one hand emulate the acts of patriotism and upon the other be warned by the examples of sin and folly and tragic deaths of men, known as men of affairs. The tragedies and trials of prominent Kentuckians should be of interest to every citizen of the Commonwealth. The cases cited are confined to the families of Governors and other State officials, lawyers, judges and men of affairs, socially, politically and intellectually. Many of them are incidents which have occurred in our midst. Some of us have participated in them and have been a part of them and we know by observation, and some by actual experience, the motives, the impulses and the in- terests which have caused men to act. We know that a man in a normal condition often acts differently from what he does when in the extremity of death or when threatened by some great catastrophe.

Louisville, KY: The Baldwin Law Book Company, 1916. 356p.

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The Allen Outlaws

By Edgar James.

A complete history of their lives and exploits concluding with the Hillsville Courthouse tragedy. When Patrick Henry, of Revolutionary days, arose in an impassioned speech and exclaimed with bated breath, “Give me liberty or give me death!” he perhaps voiced the sentiments of the Allen gang of mountains outlaws, although in a far more holy cause—but still the love of liberty prevailed su¬ preme to which curtailment of freedom, death was preferable. ' That same spirit of liberty has been carried down through the years to the Virginia mountaineer of today, and whether right or wrong in his life and its precepts, there is one thing he holds dearest and best among it all and that is freedom. Captured and imprisoned, like the mountain eagle, he soon languishes and dies, a victim of captivity. Reared in an atmosphere of freedom, raised in an altitude where the people live in the open air and ar.e imbued with the idea that no matter what a mountaineer may do, his freedom is still his own. The legality of the government collecting tax on whiskey, they are unable to comprehend, hence the “moonshine still,” which, while it has been largely diminished by the vigilance of the United States revenue officers, many of whom have lost their.

Baltimore: Phoenix Pub. Co., 1912. 191p.

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The Squire's Tale

By Geoffrey Chaucer.

Edited with an introduction by A. W. Pollard. This story from Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales was the first serious attempt to tell the story of the great Genghis Khan, leader of the Moguls, who conquered peoples and lands of Asia and South East Asia, Russia and the fringes of Europe, and by his hand spread and distributed wealth, commerce and technology throughout the peoples and lands he conquered. All of this much to the benefit of the peoples of Europe that he did not conquer, but who nevertheless absorbed the amazing commercial production and distribution of goods and the important elements of nascent science encouraged and exported by the Great Khan. None of these achievements were acknowledged by the West, instead calling the Moguls barbarians and savages.

London: Macmillan (1899) 76p.

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Karo: The Life and Fate of a Papuan

By Inglis, Amirah.

This is a book about a murder. A book about prison, about the clash of cultures and about wild men. Karo was a wild man and a clever one and this book is an attempt to trace his life. It is the history of a Papuan man born in the early part of the twentieth century and follows the path that led him to the most horrible murders and finally to the gallows. An attempt also to understand why he had another, legendary life beyond the gallows. The author became interested in Karo Araua when she heard for the first time the 'Song about Karo', the poem in traditional form in which he was the hero. It was part of her interest in the colonial condition, which was stimulated when she read of the way the lives of those in gaol can throw a great deal of light on the lowly who are also illiterate. Particularly was this the case in colonial Papua where those who landed in gaol were likely to be a cross section of those villagers who came in contact with the white man's law, most of which they did not understand. Most writings about Papua New Guinea deal with the successful people who managed the colonial encounter. Karo, hanged in Port Moresby in 1938, was not successful, but his name lives on among his own people.

Canberra: Australian National University Press, 1982. 162p.

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Charles Peace

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.

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Elizabethan Rogues and Vagabonds

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.

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The Buccaneers and Marooners of America

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.

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From Boniface to Bank Burglar

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.

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Blue-beard, A Contribution to History and Folklore

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.

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Rube Burrow, the Outlaw

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.

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Life and Adventures of Sam Bass

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

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Train and Bank Robbers of the West

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.

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The Adventures of Martin Cash

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.

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Tricks and Traps of New York City

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.

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A Book of Scoundrels

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.

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