Con Men and Cutpurses: Scenes from the Hogarthian Underworld

Crime flourished in eighteenth-century England, thanks to the conspicuous wealth of the upper classes and the lack of any kind of police force. Many people, bound by a life of exhausting poverty, saw highwaymen, thieves, pirates and prostitutes as glamorous rebels. When Jack Sheppard, burglar, daring escapee and idol of the London mob, eventually met his end, weeping girls dressed in white lined the route to Tyburn. This enthralling collection of memoirs, newspaper reports, satires and ballads takes us deep into this murky world. From ingenious pickpocket Jenny Diver to Machiavellian thief-taker Jonathan Wild, we come face to face with the Hogarthian characters who believed a short life of 'plenty, satiety, pleasure and ease, liberty and power' was well worth the price of 'a sour look or two at choking'.

This enthralling collection takes readers deep into the murky underworld of eighteenth-century England, bringing it to life in the racy idiomatic language of the time through memoirs, newspaper articles, satires, and ballads. The historical writings in Con Men and Cutpurses presents a diverse gallery of criminals-highwaymen, thieves, pirates, and prostitutes-who were seen by the general public as dangerous but glamorous rebels. From London mob idol Jack Sheppard to cross-dressing pirate Ann Bonny, these are the real life characters that inspired Hogarth, Fielding, and Dickens. This edition features an engaging general introduction and informative prefaces to each extract, with notes, a glossary of slang, and illustrations by William Hogarth.

Lucy Moore is the author of The Thieves' Opera and Amphibious Thing: The Life of Lord Hervey.