San Francisco: Connections Guidance Center, 1970-72. The Connections Guidance Center was established in San Francisco in 1969 by and for prisoners and their families and served as an information exchange center, provided transportation (to San Quentin, San Bruno, Santa Rita, Vacaville, and Soledad), housing and legal aid, disseminated information to..... More
Barcelona: Imprenta de Magriñá y Subirana, 1868. An incredible 19th century Spanish legal document issued during the defense trial of Doña Dolores Batlle, the wife of Don Paulino Geli, a prominent landowner who was also the mayor of Vilamacolum (Catalonia) and a staunch anti-monarchical Republican. On the night of December..... More
San Francisco: International Committee to Release Eldridge Cleaver, [1968]. An information sheet and petition demanding the release of Black Panther Eldridge Cleaver following a shootout between Cleaver and the Oakland police, in which Cleaver was wounded and Panther Bobby Hutton was killed. The recto includes information on Cleaver’s legal status..... More
Washington, D. C. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, [1977]. A publication of criminal justice reform for young female offenders that was originally published by the Female Offender Resource Center. Includes data and statistics concerning juvenile female offenders, the paucity of resources offered to them, the differential treatment of..... More
[Chapel Hill, NC]: Chapel Hill Prison Books Collective, n.d. A poster commemorating the April birthdays of imprisoned political activists Mumia Abu Jamal, MOVE members Chuck Sims Africa, Janet Holloway Africa, and Janine Phillips Africa, and Black Panthers Romaine ‘Chip’ Fitzgerald & Marshal Eddie Conway. With instructions for properly corresponding with..... More
[Chapel Hill, NC]: Chapel Hill Prison Books Collective, n.d. A poster commemorating the November-December birthdays of imprisoned political activists Ed Poindexter (Oklahome Black Panther), Tsutomu Shirosaki (Japanese Red Army), Zolo Agona Azania (Black Panther Party), Fred Burton, and Jerome White-Bey. With instructions for properly corresponding with prisoners to reduce the..... More
Various cities: Various publishers, 1950s. The execution of Communist spies Julius and Ethel Rosenberg on June 19, 1953 was a culminating event for the Red Scare zealots who preached that Communists had infiltrated the upper echelons of government and for the progressives who accused the Red Scare zealots of treating..... More
[Bronx]: The Bronx Coalition, [1971]. A “wanted” poster produced by the citizenry and aimed at the state. This flyer attacked Governor Nelson Rockefeller for his handling of the Attica Rebellion and demanded justice for the murders and violence his management caused. The Bronx Coalition was a short-lived New Left..... More
Washington, D. C. Committee to Defend Political Prisoners in Iran, 1977. This issue features an analysis of the Shah's U.S. visit, an article on torture in Iran, a poem by Houshang Ebtehaj titled "The Executed", a profile of political prisoner Nasser Kakhsaz, and committee news. Folded sheets (11" x 8..... More
[Elmira, N. Y.]: The Summary Press, 1927. Octavo (23.5 cm); 92 pp of text; 80 pp. of plates; large fold-out plate of New York State Reformatory Inmate Military Organization measuring approximately 48 x 18.5". Red, gilt-stamped cloth; corners bumped and a trifle worn. Previous owner's name stamped to bottom edge..... More
New York City: International Labor Defense, 1935. A pamphlet that “describes the work done by the Prisoners’ Relief Department of the International Labor Defense [the legal arm of the Communist Party and the predecessor to the Civil Rights Congress] to help make the prison days a little brighter for the..... More
Omaha: America's Answer, 1974. First Printing. The pastor of the Church of the National Message in Omaha condemns America's lax approach to criminality and compares God's law as outlined in the Bible versus man's. Bell endorses capital punishment for murder, rape, homosexuality, adultry, perjury, kidnapping, criminal negligence costing someone's life..... More
Boston: The C. M. Clark Publishing Company, 1909. First Edition. The second of two prison reform novels written by the British-born, American novelist, journalist, artist and social reformer Elizabeth Baker Bohan (1849-1930). The book is dedicated TO THE UNFORTUNATES WHO HAVE SUFFERED BY REASON OF THE UNCHRISTIAN ADMINISTRATION OF OUR..... More
New York: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1890. First American edition. 12mo. Khaki cloth boards decoratively stamped in silver and burgundy; 199 pp.; five illustrations. A morality tale about the evils of gambling. A better-than-average copy with some soiling to cloth and gift inscription to ffep; VG+. More
Chicago: Charles H. Kerr & Company, [1937]. A Marxian interpretation of the causes of crime. Stapled wrappers, 42 pp. Updated address and price to the front wrapper, else a near fine, well-preserved copy. More
Philadelphia: American Friends Service Committee, 1963. Third printing. The third printing of this seminal text of the civil rights movement: an open letter penned by Martin Luther King, Jr. to a group of white clergymen from solitary confinement in a Birmingham, Alabama jail. King was arrested on Good Friday, 1963..... More
Baltimore: Firestarter Press, [199-?]. Originally published in 1988 by the Claustrophobia Collective in collaboration with "New Afrikan prisoner" Shaka N'Zinga as a fundraiser for his legal work, this copy was apparently reprinted by Firestarter Press, an anarchist, prison abolitionist collective also located in Baltimore. Zine' format, photocopied, 49 p., poorly..... More
Concord, N. H. D. L. Guernsey, 1873. First edition. Octavo. Brown cloth with gilt-titled spine; vi, [1], 8-198 pp. Rev. Quinby's experiences as chaplain of the New Hampshire State Prison from 1869 until his dismissal in 1871. Although he accepted the position reluctantly, he quickly became deeply involved in his..... More
New York: Freedom of the Press Co., Inc., 1951. Scarce CPUSA publication concerning the unsolved murder of Italian-American longshoreman, Pietro “Pete” Panto (1911-1939), at the hands of Albert Anastasia’s Murder Inc. for attempting to expose the corruption that existed in the International Longshoreman’s Association. Singer, a Communist journalist, contends that..... More
San José: Fidelity Printing, 1976. The only book of poetry by San Quentin Six defendant, Luis Talamantez, who began writing poetry in prison. In 1965, Talamantez was sentenced to two life sentences for an armed robbery that netted him $130. He began to organize Chicano inmates and was singled out..... More
Dallas: Chaplain Ray, International Prison Ministry, [197-]. The transcript of a taped message from Manson confederate "Tex" Watson to Charles Manson following his conversion to Christianity through the ministry of Chaplain Ray (b. Ray Hoekstra) who founded International Prison Ministry in 1972. The message is an interview between Chaplain Ray..... More
n.p. The Friends of San Quentin Adjustment Center, [ca. 1972]. First edition. A support appeal issued by Inez Williams and the Friends of San Quentin Adjustment Center, on behalf of Williams’ son, Fleeta Drumgo, one of the Soledad Brothers, and other prisoners. The pamphlet reprints letters to Williams from Fleeta..... More
Chicago: Published by the author? [1911?]. Twelfth Edition. A book on the vices and destitution in Chicago with the hope of drawing support for its reform. First published by the author in 1909, the book went through a number of editions and was distributed by him and a coterie of..... More