Professional Criminals of America. By Inspector Thomas Byrnes. First Edition, First Printing. Cassell & Company, Ltd. New York, 1886.

Inspector Thomas Byrnes was a notable investigator in New York during the Gilded Age. He was an Irish immigrant who became the city’s chief detective after solving some of the most famous bank robberies of the era. This made him a kind of celebrity during his lifetime. Byrnes embodied the domineering, hardline character of law enforcement that we still associate with detectives today. But he was also infamously corrupt. His methods of extracting confessions and contriving evidence were often dishonest and intended more for spectacle than deducing truth. He was eventually forced to resign by Teddy Roosevelt, then police commissioner in New York. In this volume, some of Byrnes’s detective innovations are on full display: mainly, the publication and categorization of criminals as a way to encourage the public to assist in their apprehension. Professional Criminals of America is also a textbook of the most common crimes and widely known criminals from the 1880s. It contains early photography in the form of dozens of mugshots of men and women grouped together by their various crimes. They are sneaks, pickpockets, forgers, fraudsters, and robbers. Alongside their mugshots, each criminal is given a descriptive entry, noting their physical appearance and criminal habits. There are also chapters on infamous bank robberies, mysterious murders, and opium usage. It is a spectacular work, a true crime classic by one of the most ostentatious police detectives in history.

This first edition, first printing is in near-fine condition. Finely rebound in three-quarter leather over decorated boards. Raised bands. Original label laid in. Only faintest rubbing to back board. Text block near-fine. Marbled edges only slightly rubbed and minor toning throughout. All 36 original plates present.

A scarce first edition of Professional Criminals of America.