Criminal Slang Dictionary
"Criminalese": Slang Talk of the Criminal
Notes: A dictionary of criminal argot assembled by the one-time chief of police of Bessemer, Pennsylvania. Finerty lists some 2500 words, with short definitions. The words are grouped by first letter, but are not in any particular order after that. The book concludes with advice for avoiding becoming a crime victim ("Size up every fellow who wears a cap"), a list of state and federal prisons, by state, and a one-page horseman's vocabulary.
Some examples:
"Nark—stool pigeon" (defined as a thief in the employ of the police);
"New fish—new inmate at prison."
72 pages, 3-7/8 by 5-7/8 inches.
Edition + Condition: First edition (first printing with no additional printings noted). Small chip missing from front cover, else very good.
Publication: (N.-pl.): (n.p.), 1926.
Item No: #361866
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