Item #860 [SPEAK LIKE THE SOVIET CRIMINALS] Slovar’ zhargona prestupnikov : (blatnaia muzyka) [i.e. Criminal Slang Dictionary: (Thieves’ Music)] / compiled of the newest data by S. Potapov
[SPEAK LIKE THE SOVIET CRIMINALS] Slovar’ zhargona prestupnikov : (blatnaia muzyka) [i.e. Criminal Slang Dictionary: (Thieves’ Music)] / compiled of the newest data by S. Potapov

[SPEAK LIKE THE SOVIET CRIMINALS] Slovar’ zhargona prestupnikov : (blatnaia muzyka) [i.e. Criminal Slang Dictionary: (Thieves’ Music)] / compiled of the newest data by S. Potapov

Moscow: Narodnyi komissariat vnutrennikh del, 1927. Item #860

196 pp. 13,5x9 cm. In contemporary binding with original constructivist front wrapper preserved. Some stains and pencil marks occasionally, two ink signatures on the t.p. (1928 and 1945), otherwise very good.

For office use only. Copy #2859. Extremely rare.

Second, significantly enlarged edition of this dictionary was compiled in four years after the first edition was published. Countless repressions of the Communist Party regularly increased the number of prisoners. The jail and camp system formed a separate culture with almost independent language widespread in criminal circles. To eliminate and prevent illegal actions, this language was decrypted and thousands of words were gathered into the dictionary. It explained that “to raise the sails” meant “to rob a shop” or “sunflower” meant “golden watch”. A strange fact: this edition proves that the word “kalymazhnia” (close to Kolyma) meant “jail” long before this area became a place of mass repressions and exiles in 1932-1953.

The edition was spread among policemen, officers of the Criminal Investigation Department and the Criminal Court.

Worldcat doesn’t track this edition.

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