twenty fifth man strange story de morrell last survivor famous band (1 résultats)

Hardcover. Etat : Very Good. No Jacket. 1st Edition. Foreword by George W.P. Hunt. Governor of Arizona, 1923. Titles somewhat faded but still easily legible. Signed to the first blank in blue ink: "Sincerely yours / 'The 25th Man' / Ed. Morrell." Purportedly autobiographical Western adventures, but concluding with a rather strange 13-page proposal for prison reform by this former inmate, including his proposal for elimination of the jury system, replacing District Attorneys with "a Public Investigator and a Public Defender to determine the guilt or innocence of the accused," a ban on all "narcotic drugs" (that's working well), sending all lawbreakers to "Industrial Training Centers" where they'd be paid the standard, non-prison wage so they could be self-sufficient, etc. Morrell was an accomplice to the Evans-Sontag gang that robbed the Southern Pacific Railroad in California's San Joaquin Valley in the 1890s. The robberies were in retribution for the railroad's treatment of local ranchers in the valley. Morrell was sentenced to life imprisonment in Folsom State Prison in 1894. Eventually transferred to San Quentin -- where he was kept for five years in solitary confinement in a dungeon -- he was pardoned in 1908. Author Jack London championed his case, and Morrell became a frequent guest at London's ranch in Glen Ellen, Calif. London also used Morrell as the basis for a character in his 1915 novel "The Star Rover." "Subscription form" has been removed from rear of this signed copy. 390 pp. Reduced from $430. Inscribed by Author(s).