De l’homicide commis par les enfants

Paris: Asselin and Co, 1882. FIRST EDITION. Later cloth-backed marbled boards (stained). Presentation inscription from the author to Dr. Émile Blanche. Light dampstaining throughout, but still a good, complete copy. First edition, a curious occultist study of murderous minors. In the late 19th century, with the waning popularity of time-occupying apprenticeships and the influx of accessible media and popular culture, child crime became a problem and buzzword within European society (think Oliver Twist…). Cases in which sons and daughters killed their siblings or parents stood out because parricide was considered the gravest crime under French penal code. Here the author attempts a forensic analysis of the child perpetrator, seeking the psychological and physiological reasons one may decide to kill. He argues that children whose moral upbringings are not monitored may fall victim to demonism, witchcraft, and even lycanthropy, leading them to kill while under the delusion of possession. Other, less intriguing things that might lead kids to homicide include puberty, drug and alcohol abuse, mental illness, and heredity of criminal nature. Moreau also points out that perhaps children murder simply to achieve celebrity.

Caillet III: 7739; Grandin, Bib. Gen. des sciences juridiques I : 563.
 .