Minutes of Evidence Taken before a Select Committee Appointed...
The Origins of London's Metropolitan Police [Policing]. [Great Britain]. [House of Commons]. Minutes of Evidence Taken Before a Select Committee Appointed by the House of Commons to Inquire into the State of the Police of the Metropolis. With Notes, Observations, And a Preface, By a Magistrate of the County of Middlesex. London: Printed for Sherwood, Neely, and Jones [et al.], 1816. x, [2], 518 pp. Publisher's advertisement leaf bound between preliminaries and main text. Octavo (8-1/2" x 4-3/4"; 21.8 x 12.5 cm). Contemporary three-quarter calf over marbled boards, gilt spine, marbled edges and endpapers. Moderate rubbing, light wear to board edges, corners bumped, front hinge starting, rear hinge cracked, later armorial bookplate of William Russell, 8th Duke of Bedford, to front pastedown. Light toning, internally clean. An appealing copy. $350. * Only edition. The 1816 Committee on the State of the Police of the Metropolis was the first of several parliamentary committees appointed to consider the problem of policing in London as the city grew in size and importance during the Industrial Revolution. Before the official establishment of the Metropolitan Police Force in 1829, policing in London was carried out by a patchwork of local volunteer constables and watchmen. Some of these groups, like the Bow Street Runners, were well-governed and effective; others were not. This report assesses the flaws in the local system and makes modest recommendations for centralizing policing. The preface is sometimes attributed to Patrick Colquhoun [1745-1820], a criminological expert, a tireless advocate for reform and the author of A Treatise on the Police of London (1st ed. London, 1796). William Russell [1809-1872], a former owner of our copy, was a British Whig politician and the 8th Duke of Bedford. Goldsmiths'-Kress Library of Economic Literature 21605.
Price: $350.00
Book number 84951