Manual of the Corporation of the City of New-York, for the Year 1850 - Complete
New York: McSpedon & Baker, 1850. First Edition. Original cloth. Stout 8vo. Pp. viii, [14], [1], 2pp. diagram of alderman chambers, 28-552, followed by tipped-in errata. Frontis. folding, hand-colored map of Manhattan's 12th Ward (lower Manhattan). Lavishly published with maps, charts and tinted lithographic views. Bound in original green cloth stamped in blind and gilt on front and rear boards, as well as spine. Spine cloth a bit faded; gilt dulled. Small closed tears to a few of the folding maps and plates. All told, an exceedingly well preserved copy. Very Good. Item #7232 David Valentine's Manual remains "one of the best and most used sources for information about New York City during three decades of the nineteenth century ... published annually between 1841 and 1870 (except in 1867)" (Lawrence, Valentine's Manuals: A General Index, p. 1). In 1830, when Valentine became Deputy Clerk of the Common Council, he manifested his interest in city history by staunching the outbound flow of municipal documents being channeled "to second-hand book- and print-shops, and so passed on into the outstretched hands of covetous autograph- and relic-hunters" (Lawrence, p. ix). As Valentine's title suggests, his manuals served as guides to current New York City with contemporary maps, plans, facts and figures (elected officials, demographics, tax rolls, etc.), but also reproduced historical print matter under his care as ad hoc archivist. Thus, in addition to acting as preservationist, Valentine shared his enthusiasm for Gotham history by reproducing, in this volume for example, a "Profile of the Twelve Avenues of the City of New York" (on blue paper, bound upside down); "The Public Squares, Parks and Places in the City of New York;" engraved plates depicting Dutch governance in the city; "A View of the Harbor in 1792;" a fold-out "Map of the City of New York in 1850," hand-colored on blue paper, and early newspaper extracts, among many other historical reproductions, all amid the facts and figures of the day. Among the latter, votes received by politicians, costs of operating jails, a roster of licensed pawnbrokers, names of every policeman and the wards in which they serve, and so forth. A particularly attractive, complete copy, with text block clean, corners sharp, fold-outs bright.
Price: $450.00