Mémoires de Vidocq, chef de la police de sureté, jusqu'en 1827, aujourd'hui propriétaire et fabricant de papiers à Saint-Mandé de Vidocq, François Eugène - 1828

Paris: Tenon, Libraire-Éditeur, 1828 Haycraft Queen Cornerstone #3. The Father of Detection - An Extraordinary Collection of First Editions. 10 Volumes In All. [VIDOCQ & His Detractors.]. Uniformly bound in contemporary quarter decorated paper over marbled paper covered boards, leather spine label lettered in gilt, marbled endpapers. The bindings in excellent condition, contents generally very good or better with some occasional foxing & light use visible. Provenance: Olin H. Moore, whose faded light blue stamp appears on the front pastedown of each volume. Minor conservation. An impressive set housed in three custom gilt decorated red patterned calf slipcases on a custom fitted matching patterned calf tray. Includes: 1 - Four Volumes / Vidocq, François Eugène. Mémoires de Vidocq, chef de la police de sureté, jusqu'en 1827, aujourd'hui propriétaire et fabricant de papiers à Saint-Mandé. Paris Tenon, Libraire-Éditeur 1828. First edition. THE FIRST CRIME NARRATIVE. Four octavo volumes. viii, 420; [iv], 462; [iv] 434; [iv] 420 pp. Uncut. With all four half-titles. While Vidocq normally signed only the first three volumes & refused to sign Vol. IV, this set is unique as Vol. IV has the Vidocq engraved portrait frontispiece by Mlle Coignet normally found only in Vol I. & Vol IV is also signed by Vidocq while Vol I is not signed but does contain the proper portrait frontispiece as called for. Volumes II, III & IV are signed by Vidocq on the versos of the half-titles under a printed statement proclaiming the contents to be true. These volumes were mainly ghost-written from Vidocq's notes likely by MORICE (Emile) et L'HERITIER (Louis-François). With; 2 - Four Volumes / Mémoires d'un forçat ou Vidocq dévoilé. [Memories of a convict or Vidocq revealed] The Rare Four Volume Refutation Issued By Four Different Publishing Houses* [1828-1829]. With the "Lexique d'argot", Slang Dictionary in the 4th volume. Issued Anonymously, these works are generally attributed to: RABAN (Louis-François) & Marco SAINT-HILAIRE. Vol. I : Paris : Langlois fils et Cie (impr. E. Pochard). - Vol. II : Paris : Rapilly (impr. Gaultier-Laguionie). - Vol. III : Paris : Tous les libraires marchands de nouveautés (impr. Gueffier). - Vol. IV : Paris : Tous les marchands de nouveautés (impr. Gaultier-Laguionie), 1828-1829. - 4 Vols. 8vo., [229-238], XVIII, 351 pp. ; 8, 357 pp. ; xi, 343 pp;, 343 pp. - First editions all. The author['s] represented as having an intimate knowledge of Vidocq, the ex criminal, who became head of the Sûreté: "I will speak about a man whom I've know since his childhood; of a man that I knew in the army, of a man with whom I shared a dungeon, the chains, and. will I say it?. . a mistress!" [Vol 1, p. 2.]. According to the editors, the intention of publication was to unmask Vidocq; ".this cheating mask with which he hopes to hide the blood & the mud in which he is covered" & adds that: "it is in vain that this Vidocq hopes to escape from public condemnation; I will say what it was, which it is, which IT SHOULD BE!". The work thus proposes the true history of the principal events of the life of Vidocq, since birth, supposedly told by & through the life of the one of the principal witnesses of his existence. Published almost in parallel with the Memories of Vidocq, the authors didn't hesitate to 'borrow' some Mémoires passages in order to refute certain remarks by "the former convict", adding juicy events that Vidocq had omitted. * The publication of the first volume was tumultuous. The authors changed publishers for the second volume, which lead to a lawsuit between the two publishers. They finally turned to a third, then a fourth publisher for the last two volumes. Rarely seen in the altogether. With; 3 - Two Volumes / [L'HERITIER (Louis-François)], Supplément aux Mémoires de Vidocq ou les Révélations sans réticence, par le rédacteur des 2ème, 3ème et 4ème vol. des Mémoires. [Supplement to the Memories of Vidocq or Revelations without reserve, by the writer of 2nd, 3rd & 4th volume of Mémoires]. Paris: Chez Les Marchands De Nouveautes, 1831. Two Volumes; 8vo., 333pp + 382pp. Second edition. [The 1st was published by Boulland, 1830-183 1] Considered the Father Of Detective Fiction, Vidocq / Mémoires provided the first modern detective book. Hardy the documentary it pretended to be, this was a work of fiction borrowing liberally from the Gothic novel form while introducing the very concept of Detection & Detectives to literature. Vidocq's colourful history made him a public superstar & his exceptional detective skills guaranteed him regular coverage in the newspapers of the day. His exploits as a privateer, spy, soldier & bon vivant who later turned criminalist forming the Paris Sûreté, [& later still, famous private detective], made Mémoires published the 4th of October 1828 something of an event in Paris life as the city anxiously awaited its arrival. The Mémoires of the ex-convict who rose to the rank of chief of police was an instant best-seller & along came his detractors, notably the journalists Raban & Saint-Hilaire, who didn't like Vidocq's glamorized notoriety & set about straightening the record with their Mémoires d'un forçat ou Vidocq dévoilé. Vidocq's literary influence was vast - He was the model for fictional characters like Edmond Dantès in Dumas' Count of Monte Cristo, Edgar Allan Poe's Chevalier Dupin of Murder in the Rue Morgue, Emile Gaboriau's inspiration for his detective Monsieur Lecoq, one of the first scientific & methodical detectives. Vidocq inspired literary giants like Honoré de Balzac, Alexandre Dumas & Victor Hugo. His false accusation & search for revenge were the stuff from which Dumas wove The Count of Monte Cristo. Vidocq's endless quest for freedom as an escaped convict gave Victor Hugo the character of Jean Valjean in Les Misérables. And Vidocq's later career as a man hunter was the model of Valjean's adversary, Inspector Javert. Honore de Balzac modeled the character of Vautrin on him in Le Pere Goriot. Vidocq inspired Charles Dickens & Doyle's immortal Sherlock Holmes. Even Agatha Christie's creation, Hercule Poirot may owe his very formation to Vidocq's paternity.. Signed by Author. 1st Edition.