Life and Adventures of the Accomplished Forger and Swindler Colonel Monroe Edwards. New York: H. Long & Brother, 1848.
Monroe Edwards was the model confidence man. He smuggled slaves into Brazil, Cuba, and Texas. He traveled Europe in the guise of an upper-class veteran and abolitionist. He forged letters of introduction to wealthy families and conned them out of hundreds of dollars. He fraudulently obtained tens of thousands of dollars from bankers and merchants. Found with $40,000 when he was arrested, Monroe was one of the most celebrated conmen of his time. Admired for his skill and ingenuity, he is thought to have been one inspiration for Herman Melville’s Confidence Man. This pamphlet, published a year after his death and heavily illustrated, recounts the “life and adventures” of this “accomplished” forger and swindler.
