Thieves' music. "Jargon" of the prison. 2nd edition. Trakhtenberg V.F.

Before readers is a unique dictionary of jargon of representatives of the criminal world. The author of the book, not being a professional linguist, compiled it based on materials collected by him in various prisons of pre -revolutionary Russia. Many terms are equipped with detailed articles that reveal their origin and content. In the preface, the outstanding linguist I. A. Baudouin de Curtene expresses the thoughts of the need to study “secret” languages, considers the international nature of “thieves' music” and the ethical aspects of the appearance and spread of this peculiar language.

The book, first published more than a century ago, is of great interest for linguists, literary critics, researchers of folk literature, folklorists, social scholars, lawyers, psychologists, philosophers, as well as a wide range of readers interested in sociolinguistics, The history of Russian culture and the Russian language.