The Two Ways and the Two Ends; or, The History of Manlius Spencer and Roland Larkin
Blind and gilt stamped cloth 18mo, 104pp. With 24 woodcuts, excluded from pagination, collated complete. Gift inscription to front flyleaf, charming plate showing the interior of an infant school. Copyright dated 1841. About Very Good with rubbing, exposed corners and tips, 1.5" split to the cloth at the lower joint. Mild foxing throughout, but still quite handsome. Spine titled "Ways and Ends of Good and Bad Boys" with a vignette of a man holding a book and looking over his shoulder. Evocative tales with bold engravings and reference to labor and prison conditions.
"The Just Way and the Peaceful End; or, The History of Manlius Spencer." Manlius' father dies when he is 7, but he faithfully attends school then secures an apprenticeship with a bricklayer at age 16 and rises through the ranks. When his fellow laborers go on strike (a term defined in the book), Manlius is described as vituous for not participating, instead being "firm and true to the interest of his employers" (29). He is rewarded with partnership in the business, a strict but fair employer who witholds pay until Monday mornings so that the workers can't drink away their wages. His ascent continues outside the workplace: he starts as a Sunday School teacher, then Superintendent, "And it was not long before he was called upon to be the guardian of orphans, and the trustee of estates," local magistrate, and so on. He dies and is celebrated by many.
"The Evil Way and the Fearful End; or, The History of Roland Larkin" begins at p.55. Despite having 2 living parents, "Rolly" is truant turned gambler, drinker, smoker, all-around sinner. He escalates from horse races to theater going (!), "to hear filthy songs, and to witness licentious dances, or coarse buffoonery" (68). Roland gets into a bar fight and his opponent died overnight from his injuries, sending Rolly goes to prison for murder. He makes pals in prison and when he is released, joins up with them for a burglary--but sloppy Rolly leaves a tool behind at the crime scene and gets sent to prison again.
His second stint in prison appears to be based on what was later known as Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia. "The offence was committed within the bounds of a State, where the prisons are so built, that each person occupies a cell by himself, night and day," referencing the solitary system of confinement that was implemented there (and where inmates commonly labored making shoes, corresponding to the illustrations at pages 93 and 97. Was the solitary system effective? Roland was sentenced to 5 years, but disease broke out in the prison and, weakened by years of alcohol abuse, he died there. Buried in an unmarked grave, he was mourned by no one.