Memoirs of Vidocq: The Principal Agent of the French Police
Philadelphia: T.B. Peterson, 1859.
First American edition, first printing. (Follows the original French and some multi-volume British editions with ghostwritten material tacked on.) 580, [2]-12, [1] pp. Publisher's brown pebbled cloth, front stamped in blind, gilt spine lettering, yellow ad endpapers. A Very Good+ copy with cloth worn away along head and tail, lettering a little oxidized and rubbed, light sporadic foxing, penciled name on first blank, erased pencil on title page, plates toned. The autobiography of the first private detective, Eugene Francois Vidocq, a former criminal and father of criminology. His exploits inspired Edgar Allan Poe to create detective fiction as a genre. Item #140940505
Price: $500.00