RARE 1849 Annual Report Prison Discipline Society NYC Boston etc Jails Criminals

Description

Title:
Twenty Fourth Annual Report Of The Board of Managers of the Prison Discipline, Society Boston, May, 1849
Author: Prison Discipline Society
Publisher:
T.R Marvin
(1849)
Description:
According to OCLC which lists books held by libraries worldwide there are only 2 known copies of this book.
The Prison Discipline Society's goal was to efficiently run prisons while reforming criminals. The book describes "advancements" from prison wardens, matrons, jailers and chaplains in the various methods used in penology. The insane and juvenile delinquents were often thrown together with hardened criminals. The conditions of most prisons were abysmal. The modern reader will be shocked by how bad prisons and penitentiaries were. One section describes a water tortures used to "cure" the insane or rehabilitate. Little effort was given to actually reform criminals besides religious instruction.
The book concentrates on New York State but has sections dealing with prisons throughout the northeast including Boston and Pennsylvania. The book is divided into sections on County Prisons and Houses of Detention, Juvenile Delinquents, Penitentiaries, Prison Sabbath Schools, Asylums For The Insane. Has an illustration and map of the New Boston Jail.
A fascinating look into the mid-nineteenth century justice system and
the inspectors who checked on the conditions describing
how prisoners were dealt with and compiled interesting statistics.
Back cover has a list of additional titles called "Valuable Documents" which are other reports for sale of a similar nature - insane asylums, houses of refuge etc.
While the word rare is used very freely on eBay by many sellers, this is truly rare. No other copies of this edition offered for sale on the internet.
A couple of samples from the book:
DIVINE SERVICE IN THE COUNTY PRISONS IN THE STATE OF NEW YORK.
Out of sixty-three County Prisons in the state of New
York, according to the first report of the inspectors, there are
thirty-six where there is no divine service; five where there
is divine service occasionally ; and nine only where there is
divine service once a week.
BIBLES SUPPLIED TO EACH ROOM IN THE COUNTY PRISONS IN THE STATE OF NEW YORK.
Out of sixty-three County Prisons, in the state of New
York, there are thirty-eight where the Bible is supplied to
each room; six prisons where there are not enough; and
seven, where no Bibles are supplied.
PRISON LIBRARIES IN THE COUNTY PRISONS IN THE STATE OF NEW YORK.
Out of the sixty-three County Prisons in the state of New
York, according to the first report of the inspectors, there are
forty-eight where there are none; one where there is a "small
one;" and one where there is an "old one."
WATER FOR BATHING IN THE COUNTY PRISONS IN THE STATE OF NEW YORK.
Out of the sixty-three County Prisons, according to the first report of the inspectors, there are forty-two where none is
supplied ; and only eight where it is supplied.
SHEETS CHANGED, HOW OFTEN, IN THE COUNTY PRISONS IN THE STATE OF NEW YORK.
There are nineteen County Prisons, out of the sixty-three,
according to the first report of the inspectors, where there are
no sheets; one Prison where they are changed when they are
"worn out;" one where they are “scarcely ever” changed;
one where they are changed once in "two or three MONTHS;
seven where they are changed "once a month;" three where
they are changed once in two weeks; and eleven only where they are changed weekly.
_____________________________________________________________________
Importance of aiding Female Convicts after their Discharge.
— The matron of the female Prison at Sing Sing says, (page
240 of the inspectors’ first report, ) —
"Many of the convicts are young, almost children in years and judg
ment. Left without parents to protect, or friends to advise them, they
have become the victims of the unprincipled and the designing, and
falling from their estate of purity and virtue, they find themselves the
inmates of this Prison before their minds are matured, or their characters
formed. The infamy attached to the public exposure of their errors, and
the lasting reproach of a State Prison sentence, lets down every barrier
between them and a life of infamy. To me, it appears like cruelty
refined, to detain these wretched girls two or three years, and then turn
them out with the additional odium of being convicts, with no home
for their reception, no friends to advise and protect, and no eye but
God’s to pity, while the vile arid vicious, in almost every walk in life,
are waiting to insnare them, and plunge them deeper into wretchedness
and crime.
“Not only with the hope of reclaiming such, and rescuing them from
an early and disgraceful death, but also for the credit of the state, and
well-being of society, I would suggest the propriety of an additional
institution, to which girls under twenty years of age should be sent, at
the expiration of their Prison sentences, where their education and morals
should be cared for, and where they should be required to pursue some
useful employment, until, in the opinion of the inspectors, or some
other competent tribunal, they should be deemed fitted to enter the
world."
CLINTON COUNTY STATE PRISON, NEW YORK.
Number of convicts at the commencement of the year 1848.... 146
Number at the close of the year............. 181
Average number, ......163 & 1/2
Number received during the year, ............ 85
Discharged by expiration of sentence,.......... 33
-by pardon, ............. 10
-by death, .................. 4
Condition:
Book is very worn. Covers barely attached. (will certainly become detached in the near future with any amount of handling without some remedy applied i.e. archival tape, professional restoration or rebinding.) Wear throughout. Old ownership writing on top of cover. Foxing and staining throughout but nothing really heavy to obscure text. most pages free of damage. One page has a tear but is complete (last photo). Portions of spine paper covering with titling has missing sections (see photo 2)   Please see all photos or ask for more or for a more thorough description - remember this rarity is over 170-years-old and being
sold as is.
New owner could and should have this rebound so it can be perused properly.
Details:
wraps sewn binding approx 6 x 9"  132 pages corresponds to index with pages numbered as 316 - 442 with first few pages plus title page being unnumbered. So, page 442 is labeled as 442 and 132.
1849 first edition
Published in Boston at No. 1 Ashburton Place by
Press of T.R. Marvin
24 Congress Street
Terms
U.S. bidders only
Payment
Paypal (or cash if paid in person)
Please pay within 48 hours.
Shipping
Shipping will be .25 and will be shipped USPS media mail with tracking. Will be shipped within 4 business days after payment (usually faster).
Also the USPS has been incredibly slow,
it could take up to 3 weeks for delivery
based on their recent delays. Please take that into account when leaving feedback that I will ship quickly, but the USPS takes a long time to deliver and I have no control over delivery time.
Please note postal rates increased again on July 10. THREE price hikes in just over 1 year.
Can be picked up for free in person paying cash.
Sales Tax
:
if your state has one is collected by eBay and then paid to your state tax authority. I do not make money from this but am charged a percentage by ebay on the total sale including tax - gotta love corporate America right?
Returns
No returns.
We describe all items conservatively. If there is any problem, email us before contacting eBay or initiating a return or leaving feedback and we will work it out. We want satisfied customers.
Feedback:
After you receive your item and are satisfied, please leave positive feedback and we will do the same.
Questions
Please ask any and
all questions before bidding
.
About
In the used and rare book business for over 30 years and on eBay for over 20 years.