8vo. [16], xvi, 655pp, [30]. With half-title and a terminal index. Contemporary gilt-tooled mottled calf, contrasting red morocco lettering piece. Rubbed and marked, with upper joint split, spine heavily dulled. Inked inscription of ? Library to FEP, with inked gift inscription 'From Mr. Dingwall, Ramornie' pasted to head of the same. Scattered spotting, heavier to endpapers.

The seventh edition of a pioneering treatise on policing by Patrick Colquhoun (1745-1820), Scottish merchant, statistician, magistrate, and founder of the first regular preventive police force in England, the Thames River Police. First published in 1797, A Treatise on the Police of the Metropolis examines the nature of criminal activity within London, such as burglary, fraud, gambling, and illegal trading in the dockyards, and discusses issues of punishment and suggests alterations to the policing of the capital that Colquhoun thought necessary. He emphasised the requirement for measures in crime prevention, particularly through the visible presence of officers acting as a deterrent, to be a fundamental part of any police force. His utilitarian approach saw that this methodology would greatly inform techniques in modern policing throughout the world.