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REISS, R[odolphe] A[rchibald]
La Photographie Judiciaire.
First and only edition. Foundation text of the use of photography in forensic investigations. Uncommon, just 9 copies on OCLC, none apparently in the US. Reiss (1876-1929), received his doctorate from Lausanne in 1898, and in 1899 he took over the Service de l'Identité Judiciaire founded 3 years previously by Marius Jaccard on principles suggested by the anthropometric work of Alphonse Bertillon for the Préfecture de police in Paris. The publication of the present work establishes his international reputation, and in 1906 he attends the 6th International Congress on Criminal Anthropology, in Turin, where he meets Cesare Lombroso, pioneer anthropometrist; Salvatore Ottolenghi, founder of the Scuola di Polizia Scientifica; and Edmond Locard, originator of the fundamental exchange principle of forensic science, "Every contact leaves a trace." Following a period of study with Bertillon, he returned to Lausanne and in 1909 established the l'Institut de Police Scientifique offering an interdisciplinary diploma in scientific policing. His publication in 1911 of the first volume of his Manuel de Police Scientifique cements his position as a recognized authority in the area. In 1912 he was invited to preside over a series of seminars in St. Petersburg; the following year he was in Sao Paolo, presenting a course for the Brazilian government; and in 1914 he is consulted by the New York police seeking advice on their reorganization on rational lines, his suggestions being published as Contribution à la Réorganisation de la Police. After service on the Serbian front in the First World War, Reiss resigned his post at the IPS and settled near Belgrade, where he died in 1929. This is a fragile book, most copies being heavily shaken and loose, this copy has been professionally restored. An immensely important, but generally overlooked contribution to the development of scientific policing, an exhibition in Lausanne in 2001 celebrated Reiss as " Un Sherlock Holmes vaudois."
Large octavo. Resewn and recased in the original marl printed card wraps. 6 original photographic plates mounted on card, numerous illustrations to the text, many of them full-page. Wraps a little rubbed and soiled, spine restored, an excellent copy.
