France
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Serialized novel cover for Vidocq, King of Thieves–King of Detectives (Paris: Fayard, 1882). Public Domain. Historian Paul Metzner argues that the social and political instability of the restored Bourbon Monarchy in the early nineteenth century, following French Revolution and the collapse of Napoleon’s Empire, was particularly favorable to opportunistic virtuosos, self-centered individuals who excelled at…
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Jules Beaujoint (pseudonym), Cartouche, King of the Bandits, 25 issues (Paris: Arthème Fayard, 1907). Author’s collection. Vidocq’s self-reference to the eighteenth-century bandit Cartouche in the preface to the Mémoires was on the mark. His narrative parallels the life and exploits of Cartouche: the child who first steals at home, runs away from his family, learns…
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Frontispiece portrait by Marie Gabrielle Coignet, in Mémoires de Vidocq, chef de la police de sûreté, jusqu’en 1827, vol. 1 (Paris: Tenon, 1828). Wikipedia Commons: Musée Carnavalet, Paris. In both fact and fiction, Eugène-François Vidocq is often called the first modern detective. His life and exploits are recounted in the Mémoires (1828-1829), a sprawling four-volume collection…
Shady Detectives, Elegant Criminals & Dark Avengers 