ABSTRACT
Jesse Varley was obviously completely untypical of the middle-class population as a whole – but he was not so untypical of that small subset of middle-class men who turned to fraud, embezzlement and other forms of criminality. Criminals like Jesse Varley had more reasons than most to conceal what motivated them, the authorities did not delve as deeply as they might, and scholars have little chance of reconstructing the private thoughts and feelings of fraudsters and embezzlers who have been dead for a hundred years and more. The secrecy with which Jesse Varley and those like him made their money was matched surprisingly often by the openness with which they spent it, a combination which contributed, paradoxically, to concealing their criminality in full view. Jesse Varley was from far alone in his recidivism. Jesse Varley was an ordinary man who did some extraordinary things, and for better or for worse he deserves to be remembered.
