WHY CRIME DOES NOT PAY

Hardback. The autobiography of Sophie Lyons who was an American criminal and one of the country's most notorious female thieves, pickpockets, shoplifters, and confidence women during the mid-to-late 19th century. She and her husbands Ned Lyons and Billy Burke were among the most sought-after career criminals in the USA and Canada, being wanted in several major cities including Philadelphia, Boston and Montreal, from the 1860s to the turn of the century. She and Lyons were prominent underworld figures in New York City in the post-Civil War era, as members of fence Marm Mandelbaum's "inner circle". Sophie eventually retired from criminal life and spent her later years as a philanthropist involved in the rehabilitation of juvenile delinquents, and providing financial assistance and housing for reformed criminals and their families. Illus. with line drawings plus a photographic Fronts. portrait of the author, with printed signature. 268pp. + adverts. 12mo. h/back. Red marbled eps, maroon cloth covers, with gilt titles to sp. and black lettering and dec. in black to fr. cover. A F. copy in protective film, of an exceedingly rare title, which The British Library doesn't appear to have a copy of.