Reforme

1955 · rif. 53815 — New York: Vantage Press 1955. 8vo. 373 1 pp. Photo frontisp. plates. Blue cloth gilt lettering on spine w/ d.j. minor toning to fore-edges light toning to endpapers still NF/VG copy. Revised edition of this brutal memoir which served as the basis for Jack London’s Star Rover. This autobiographical account provides an invaluable first-hand look at the brutality that characterized the American prison system in the West at the beginning of the 20th century including the extensive uses of torture devices such as the strait jacket and the derrick which were later banned. Jack London began corresponding with Morrell before his release from prison and drew much of Morrell’s experiences with astral projection during his brutal imprisonment for his 1915 novel. Mildred McEwan Ward left the Univ. of California in order to publish accounts of Morrell’s ordeal and the full story of his life as a member of the Evans-Sontag California Feud Bandits. Vantage Press, hardcover