Vocabulum, Or, The Rogue's Lexicon. Compiled From the Most Authentic Sources. - Softcover

Matsell, George W

 
9781616190477: Vocabulum, Or, The Rogue's Lexicon. Compiled From the Most Authentic Sources.

Synopsis

Published just before the Civil War, this dictionary offers a fascinating glimpse into the American underworld in the first half of the nineteenth century As New York City's Chief of Police and an owner of the National Police Gazette, George W. Matsell [1811-1877] had an abiding interest in criminal speechways. Although he compiled this dictionary for his colleagues in law enforcement, Matsell recognized its value to the linguist. As he notes in the preface, criminal terms were beginning to enter general usage and appeared regularly in newspapers, court reports and other publications. Includes such entries as "acorn" (a gallows), "hemp the flat" (choke a fool), "rumbo" (a prison) and "tyburn blossom" (a young thief). The appendix contains samples of criminal speech and writing (with translations) and the vocabularies of gamblers, billiard players, pugilists and stock brokers of the era.

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Other Popular Editions of the Same Title

9781584774846: Vocabulum; or, the Rogue's Lexicon: Compiled from the Most Authentic Sources

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ISBN 10:  1584774843 ISBN 13:  9781584774846
Publisher: Lawbook Exchange, Ltd., 2016
Hardcover