Twenty years ahead of Conan Doyle, this is the first-ever reprint of John Babbington Williams' seminal detective story. Twenty years before Sherlock Holmes, a fictional New York private investigator was being celebrated for his ability to solve crimes based on observation and deductive reasoning - the principles that would later become Holmes' hallmark.Originally published in 1864 and never before reprinted, "Leaves from the Note-Book of a New York Detective" features 29 cases from the first American detective hero to appear in fiction, James Brampton. In case after enthralling and mysterious case, Brampton uses his powers of observation and reasoning to prove the innocence of the wrongly accused and unveil the identity of the true criminal. This first modern edition of this hugely important and influential work now reclaims its place alongside Edgar Allen Poe and Arthur Conan Doyle as one of the greats of detective fiction.