Crime, Justice, and Defoe
Law Enforcement Reported and Imagined in Eighteenth-Century England
Published on 25. September 2025
Book
Hardback
270 pages
978-90-04-73449-4 (ISBN)
Description
Having filched a little white bundle from under the noses of an apothecary's apprentice and his maid in London's Leadenhall Street, Defoe's Moll Flanders is sure that she will be "taken next time and be carry'd to Newgate and be Try'd for my Life". The likelihood of being arrested, tried and executed runs like an electric current through Moll's accounts of the many successful getaways that follow, and of how she negotiates her way out of the hands of her victims and would-be prosecutors, constables, magistrates and judges.
These narratives cannot be understood in terms of the framework of law enforcement practice taken for granted by modern consumers of crime fiction and news reports. Crime, Justice, and Defoe brings to the surface assumptions embedded in both Moll Flanders and Colonel Jack about who might do or say what at a crime scene, before a J.P., in court, and during negotiations for a pardon, assumptions to which we are now culturally blind. For help with this, the book draws on social histories of crime and justice, on early modern prescriptive manuals, on magistrates' examinations of accused persons, and on reports of trials for property crime held at the Old Bailey in the early 1720s. It pays special attention to the changes taking place in law enforcement in Defoe's lifetime and asks how his fictions may have helped naturalise those changes, or hindered them. In the process, the book explores the multi-layered narrative techniques used to tell readers both what 'really' happened and how matters might - or should - have turned out differently.
These narratives cannot be understood in terms of the framework of law enforcement practice taken for granted by modern consumers of crime fiction and news reports. Crime, Justice, and Defoe brings to the surface assumptions embedded in both Moll Flanders and Colonel Jack about who might do or say what at a crime scene, before a J.P., in court, and during negotiations for a pardon, assumptions to which we are now culturally blind. For help with this, the book draws on social histories of crime and justice, on early modern prescriptive manuals, on magistrates' examinations of accused persons, and on reports of trials for property crime held at the Old Bailey in the early 1720s. It pays special attention to the changes taking place in law enforcement in Defoe's lifetime and asks how his fictions may have helped naturalise those changes, or hindered them. In the process, the book explores the multi-layered narrative techniques used to tell readers both what 'really' happened and how matters might - or should - have turned out differently.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Leiden
Netherlands
Target group
Professional and scholarly
College/higher education
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 155 mm
Thickness: 16 mm
Weight
553 gr
ISBN-13
978-90-04-73449-4 (9789004734494)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Jeanne Clegg, D.Phil. (1981), is a historian of English literature and culture specialising in the 18th and 19th centuries. Her books, Ruskin and Venice and Revolution Stories, and essays on and around Defoe, explore the active roles played by fiction and non-fiction in social change. She lives in Italy, where she taught at the Universities of Calabria, Pisa, L'Aquila and Ca' Foscari Venice.
Content
Contents
Preface
Abbreviations
1 Introduction
?1 Other Subjectivities
?2 Sergeants to Take Thieves
?3 Old Bailey Stories
?PART 1
Catching Thieves in Fact and Fiction: Detecting and Apprehending
2 At the Scene of the Crime I: Catching Pickpockets
?1 Introduction
?2 Catching Women Pickpockets 1720-1722
?3 Moll Flanders Advises
??3.1 A Gentleman Very Rich
??3.2 A Key to the Clue
?4 Catching Male Pickpockets 1720-1722
?5 Colonel Jack's Apprenticeship
??5.1 The Hands of the Mobb
??5.2 In the Customs House
?6 Conclusion
3 TAt the Scene of the Crime II: Minding the Shop
?1 Introduction
?2 TShoplifters Apprehended 1720-1722
?3 Apprehending Moll Flanders
??3.1 Hawks E-y'd Journeymen
??3.2 Two Mis-takes
??3.3 The Black Part of This Story
?4 Conclusion
4 After the Fact I: A Market for My Goods
?1 Introduction
?2 Criminal Disposal 1720-1722
??2.1 Stopped Offering for Sale
??2.2 Receivers Prosecuted
?3 Moll Flanders' Super-fence
?4 Brokers 1720-1722
?5 Private Compositions
??5.1 Moll's Governess Makes a Booty
??5.2 Colonel Jack's Errand of Consequence
?6 Conclusion
5 After the Fact II: Thieves Discovering Thieves
?1 Introduction
?2 Thieves Discovering Thieves 1720-1722
??2.1 Shoplifters Discovered
??2.2 Street Robbers Discovered
?3 Fear of Witnesses
??3.1 Moll's Joyful News
??3.2 Will's Brave Gang
?4 Conclusion
?PART 2
The Intricacies of Office
6 What It Is to Be a Constable
?1 Introduction
?2 An Insupportable Hardship
?3 Constables in the Proceedings,1720-1722
?4 Moll's Constables
??4.1 The Hue and Cry after Jemy
??4.2 Rules for Searching
??4.3 A Good Substantial Kind of Man
?5 A Faithful Officer Humiliated
?6 Conclusion
7 Before the Justice
?1 Introduction
?2 Justicing Business
?3 London Magistrates at Work, 1720-1722
?4 Justices in Moll Flanders
??4.1 TA Justice Satisfied
??4.2 An Ancient Gentleman in Bloomsbury
??4.3 A Full Hearing in Foster Lane
??4.4 A Full Hearing in Foster Lane
??4.5 Fix'd Indeed
?5 Conclusion
?PART 3
Proper Places of the Law: Newgate, the Old Bailey and Beyond
8 Newgate: From Committal to Indictment
?1 Introduction
?2 Newgate Traffic
?3 Indictment
?4 Preventing Trial in Moll Flanders
??4.1 Tampering with Witnesses
??4.2 Jemy in the Press Yard
?5 Conclusion
9 The Old Bailey
?1 Introduction
?2 Arraignment
??2.1 Arraignments 1720-1722
??2.2 Arraign'd, as They Call'd It
?3 Altercation
??3.1 Burglary Trials 1720-1722
??3.2 Courage for My Tryal
?4 Verdict
??4.1 Burglary Verdicts 1720-1722
??4.2 Small Comfort
?5 Allocutus
??5.1 Sentencing 1720-1722
??5.2 The Dreadful Sentence
?6 Conclusion
10 Punishing and Pardoning
?1 Introduction
?2 Pardoning Procedures
?3 Avoiding the Rope in Moll Flanders
??3.1 The Favour of Being Transported
??3.2 Jemy and Friends
?4 Avoiding the Rope in Colonel Jack
??4.1 The Value of a Pardon
??4.2 The Wonders of Providence
?5 Conclusion
Epilogue
Bibliography
Index of Participants in Old Bailey Trials and J.P.s' Hearings
1720-1722
Author and Subject Index
Preface
Abbreviations
1 Introduction
?1 Other Subjectivities
?2 Sergeants to Take Thieves
?3 Old Bailey Stories
?PART 1
Catching Thieves in Fact and Fiction: Detecting and Apprehending
2 At the Scene of the Crime I: Catching Pickpockets
?1 Introduction
?2 Catching Women Pickpockets 1720-1722
?3 Moll Flanders Advises
??3.1 A Gentleman Very Rich
??3.2 A Key to the Clue
?4 Catching Male Pickpockets 1720-1722
?5 Colonel Jack's Apprenticeship
??5.1 The Hands of the Mobb
??5.2 In the Customs House
?6 Conclusion
3 TAt the Scene of the Crime II: Minding the Shop
?1 Introduction
?2 TShoplifters Apprehended 1720-1722
?3 Apprehending Moll Flanders
??3.1 Hawks E-y'd Journeymen
??3.2 Two Mis-takes
??3.3 The Black Part of This Story
?4 Conclusion
4 After the Fact I: A Market for My Goods
?1 Introduction
?2 Criminal Disposal 1720-1722
??2.1 Stopped Offering for Sale
??2.2 Receivers Prosecuted
?3 Moll Flanders' Super-fence
?4 Brokers 1720-1722
?5 Private Compositions
??5.1 Moll's Governess Makes a Booty
??5.2 Colonel Jack's Errand of Consequence
?6 Conclusion
5 After the Fact II: Thieves Discovering Thieves
?1 Introduction
?2 Thieves Discovering Thieves 1720-1722
??2.1 Shoplifters Discovered
??2.2 Street Robbers Discovered
?3 Fear of Witnesses
??3.1 Moll's Joyful News
??3.2 Will's Brave Gang
?4 Conclusion
?PART 2
The Intricacies of Office
6 What It Is to Be a Constable
?1 Introduction
?2 An Insupportable Hardship
?3 Constables in the Proceedings,1720-1722
?4 Moll's Constables
??4.1 The Hue and Cry after Jemy
??4.2 Rules for Searching
??4.3 A Good Substantial Kind of Man
?5 A Faithful Officer Humiliated
?6 Conclusion
7 Before the Justice
?1 Introduction
?2 Justicing Business
?3 London Magistrates at Work, 1720-1722
?4 Justices in Moll Flanders
??4.1 TA Justice Satisfied
??4.2 An Ancient Gentleman in Bloomsbury
??4.3 A Full Hearing in Foster Lane
??4.4 A Full Hearing in Foster Lane
??4.5 Fix'd Indeed
?5 Conclusion
?PART 3
Proper Places of the Law: Newgate, the Old Bailey and Beyond
8 Newgate: From Committal to Indictment
?1 Introduction
?2 Newgate Traffic
?3 Indictment
?4 Preventing Trial in Moll Flanders
??4.1 Tampering with Witnesses
??4.2 Jemy in the Press Yard
?5 Conclusion
9 The Old Bailey
?1 Introduction
?2 Arraignment
??2.1 Arraignments 1720-1722
??2.2 Arraign'd, as They Call'd It
?3 Altercation
??3.1 Burglary Trials 1720-1722
??3.2 Courage for My Tryal
?4 Verdict
??4.1 Burglary Verdicts 1720-1722
??4.2 Small Comfort
?5 Allocutus
??5.1 Sentencing 1720-1722
??5.2 The Dreadful Sentence
?6 Conclusion
10 Punishing and Pardoning
?1 Introduction
?2 Pardoning Procedures
?3 Avoiding the Rope in Moll Flanders
??3.1 The Favour of Being Transported
??3.2 Jemy and Friends
?4 Avoiding the Rope in Colonel Jack
??4.1 The Value of a Pardon
??4.2 The Wonders of Providence
?5 Conclusion
Epilogue
Bibliography
Index of Participants in Old Bailey Trials and J.P.s' Hearings
1720-1722
Author and Subject Index