A Pickpocket's Tale: The Underworld of Nineteenth-century New York

Gilfoyle, Timothy J.

ISBN 10: 0393061906 / ISBN 13: 9780393061901

Published by W. W. Norton & Company Inc., 2006

About this Item

W. W. Norton & Company Inc., 2006. Signed, inscribed and dated by Author on Title page; stated First Edition, first printing with full number line; dustjacket ever-so-slightly rubbed/bumped, top edge very lightly bumped, miniscule tear top edge front flap; cover spine ends bumped, front board barely soiled; edges ever-so-slightly sunned/soiled; faint pencil erasures top corner ffep; binding tight; dustjacket, cover, edges and interior intact and very clean, except where noted; a lovely copy. . Signed by Author. First Edition. Hard Cover. Very Good/Very Good. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. Seller Inventory # 602075

Bibliographic Details

Title: A Pickpocket's Tale: The Underworld of ...

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company Inc.

Publication Date: 2006

Binding: Hardcover

Condition: Very Good

Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good

Signed: Signed by Author(s)

Edition: First Edition.

About this title

Synopsis:

"A remarkable tale."―Chicago Tribune

In George Appo's world, child pickpockets swarmed the crowded streets, addicts drifted in furtive opium dens, and expert swindlers worked the lucrative green-goods game. On a good night Appo made as much as a skilled laborer made in a year. Bad nights left him with more than a dozen scars and over a decade in prisons from the Tombs and Sing Sing to the Matteawan State Hospital for the Criminally Insane, where he reunited with another inmate, his father. The child of Irish and Chinese immigrants, Appo grew up in the notorious Five Points and Chinatown neighborhoods. He rose as an exemplar of the "good fellow," a criminal who relied on wile, who followed a code of loyalty even in his world of deception. Here is the underworld of the New York that gave us Edith Wharton, Boss Tweed, Central Park, and the Brooklyn Bridge. 60 illustrations

About the Author:

Timothy J. Gilfoyle is an acclaimed historian. His first book, City of Eros, won the prestigious Nevins Prize, awarded by the Society of American Historians. He is professor of history at Loyola University in Chicago.