Police Pocket Book.

(No place): No printing details, no date. (c.1970).  First edition.  Oblong 16mo.  Unpaginated.  Fantastic police pocket book containing 38 mugshot photographs of known criminals.  Standardized by Alphonse Bertillon the mugshot became a powerful weapon in apprehending criminals.  As early as the 1850’s efforts were underway in police departments throughout the UK and United States to create local archives of criminal images. These included daguerreotype portraits of criminals and “rogues’ galleries”.  From the 1880s on, photographs were commonly featured in the “wanted” posters that were distributed widely to apprehend criminals.  These images of criminals carry a unique fascination for the general public.  This is a very good copy in plain blue wrappers, with faint pencilled notes to the covers, car registrations, addresses etc. A quirky, fascinating volume that holds your attention far longer than 38 pages would generally merit.