The Reminiscences of Jock Thirlestane, Yokel and Detective at Musselburgh Races in Days Gone Bye

Edinburgh: Thomas Adams and Sons, 1890. 1st Edition . Paperback. Fair. Undated, c1890. First edition, paperback with printed titling to front cover. 18 × 12cm, 108pp. A rare early title of a Scottish detective's memoirs of his investigations at Musselburgh's racecourse and written in the vernacular. The preface reads "this little volume makes no pretence to literary style. It is the simple narration of incidents in the career of a constable. They are drawn from memory, and were gathered together in moments of leisure as the scenes and characters vividly flashed across my mind. There is no fiction embodied in these pages, nor do they contain the record of blood-curdling, sensational incidents. They point, I trust, the moral that the path of the wrongdoer is beset with pitfalls, and that the way to escape from the filthy cesspool of disease and crime, is to tread surely the way of honesty and truthfulness." Condition: The paper covers are worn with a small amount of loss to the base of the spine. There are several pinpricks to the first few pages though the books remains perfectly readable. There is some corner curling to the pages. A used but good copy of a scarce title.