•  Shoemaker 30185; on Powel, see: Dictionary of American Biography, XV, 143–44. Contemporary paper wrappers, front with printed paper label; wrappers starting along spine, with some chipping at corners and over portion of front joint; spine and lower edge of front wrapper stained, with stray pencil marks to front wrapper. Pages untrimmed; varying degrees of foxing, with some staining. Lacking frontispiece and one plate.

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•  Shoemaker 21854. Light blue paper–covered boards, spine with printed paper title-label. First leaf with closed tear from outer margin, just touching text. Foxed, with some staining to final blank leaf.

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•  Shoemaker 21855. Later light blue paper–covered boards, spine with printed paper title-label. Slightly age-toned, with small paper flaw to one outer margin, else clean.

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The Pennsylvania Society for the Promotion of Internal Improvements in the Commonwealth was established in Philadelphia, in December 1824, to disseminate information on the latest improvements in the development of transportation systems including roads, railways, canals, bridges, etc.; as the first line of text here puts it, “The acting committee of ‘The Pennsylvania Society for the Promotion of Internal Improvement,’ have been, from the formation of the society, particularly desirous to lay before the public correct information on the subject of Railways.” William Strickland, Mathew Carey, Richard Peters, Jr., Joseph Hemphill, Stephen Duncan, and Gerard Ralston were among the society’s members.

Thein-text illustrations depict a profile of a flat railway with the flange, a section of the rail-wagon, and a bird’s eye view of the railroad. The spine title gives: “Railways. Feb. 25, 1825,” and the foot of p. [1]: “No. 9.”

•  Shoemaker 21851. Light blue paper–covered boards, spine with printed paper title-label. Minor offsetting, pages otherwise clean.

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The Pennsylvania Society for the Promotion of Internal Improvements in the Commonwealth was established in Philadelphia, in December 1824, to disseminate information on the latest improvements in the development of transportation systems including roads, railways, canals, bridges, etc.; William Strickland, Mathew Carey, Richard Peters, Jr., Joseph Hemphill, Stephen Duncan, and Gerard Ralston were among its members.

This first edition is very uncommon. OCLC and RLIN list only five institutional holdings.

•  Shoemaker 17582; Goldsmiths’-Kress 24653.16 (for 3rd ed.). Later light blue paper–covered boards, spine with printed paper title-label. Pages age-toned, with some light staining confined to margins.

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•  The Pennsylvania Society for the Promotion of Internal Improvements in the Commonwealth was established in Philadelphia, in December 1824, to disseminate information on the latest improvements in the development of transportation systems including roads, railways, canals, bridges, etc.; William Strickland, Mathew Carey, Richard Peters, Jr., Joseph Hemphill, Stephen Duncan, and Gerard Ralston were among its members.

•  Shoemaker 25712. Period-style light blue paper–covered boards, spine with printed paper title-label, volume bound with 34 blank leaves at the back. Moderate foxing; second leaf starting to separate along gutter.

•  NCBEL, II, 1583 (for the 1854 ed. on which the present ed. was based). Publisher’s textured cloth, worn, covers framed in decorative blind-stamping, spines ruled in blind and simply gilt-stamped with titles and volume numbers; spines faded, slightly discolored, all pulled with cloth lost above page level and one with additional chip out of cloth near head. Front pastedowns with tickets from a Nashville bookseller. Many pages with light offsetting (darker following frontispieces) and foxing such as the paper is prone to; front free endpaper of vol. IV with pencilled ownership inscription and back fly-leaf of vol. II with pencilled annotations.

Binding:  Publisher's bright red sheep in imitation of morocco, covers and spine gilt extra with arabesque and foliate designs. All edges gilt. Ticket inside back cover claims this as the work of “B. Bradley & Co. Boston.”

•  Faxon 24.   Leather worn over edges and joints, with joints starting; top inch of spine along back joint with sliver of leather missing. First and last few leaves foxed, with some additional foxing in proximity to plates, and pages gently age-toned.  (12953)

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Binding:  Publisher's red cloth, covers embossed and gilt-stamped, each cover with chromolithographed paper illustration affixed; spine gilt extra. All edges gilt.

•  Faxon 259.   Binding slightly dimmed overall, scuffed at edges and joints. Front free endpaper with owner's inscription dated 1869. A few spots of foxing, mostly in proximity to plates.  (12931)

This first American printing followed a London edition of the same year and was part of Putnam's "Library for the People."

•  Textured red cloth, covers stamped in blind with an attractive branch and leaf pattern, spine gilt-stamped; spine faded. Sewing starting to loosen. Lacking map. Front free endpaper with inscription “Rachel Wiston / 1887 / Aunt Sarah Hunt.” Scattered spots of foxing, mostly to first and last few pages.

•  Not in Brown, Culinary Americana. Publisher's paper-covered boards illustrated in color with an image of a Pilgrim woman, lightly worn with the front cover creased and a few small spots of staining. Front hinge cracked. Front free endpaper with the ownership inscription of a prominent 20th-century collector of cookery, with her pressure stamp on the title-page. Pages clean, with the blank leaves supplied for additional recipes here unused. (9768)

•  Publisher's brown cloth, stamped in black and silver; front and spine with decorated with a frontier scene showing Conestoga wagons in a wilderness landscape with rising sun in the background. (We can't seem to get a photograph of this that doesn't "glare out.")  Bright with a few flecks of white (paint?). Spine slightly rubbed on joints and at head and base. Pages toned. Good+. (20739)

•  Publisher’s cloth, spine with gilt-stamped title (attractively oxidized); cloth rubbed at extremities, spine with small spot of faint discoloration from a now-absent label. Front pastedown institutionally rubber-stamped (no other markings). Erratum slip tipped in. A cleaner copy than most seen on the market.

•  BAL 16346; Gardner P-7; Sabin 65272. Publisher’s blind-stamped cloth, spines with gilt-stamped titles; sunned and with small spots of discoloration, spines each showing traces of a now-absent shelving label. Front pastedowns each with private collector’s bookplate, institutional rubber-stamp, and speckled show-through of binder’s glue. Light to moderate foxing throughout.

Provenance:  “John W. Munro from his Sister Cordelia”; 30 January 1850.

•  Sabin 65272; NSTC 2P25384; BAL 16346 (for first edition).   Original publisher's cloth, spines stamped in gilt and blind; cloth very slightly frayed at head of spines. Front endpapers inscribed as above. Mild foxing on some pages including the title-pages; frontispieces with tissue guards. A very good set.  (23787)