RITTER, AbrahamBiblio.com
Ritter, AbrahamBiblio.com
Philadelphia and Her Merchants as Constituted Fifty& Seventy Years Ago Illustrated by Diagrams of the River Front and Portraits of Some of Its Prominent Occupants. Together with Sketches of Character and Incidents and Anecdotes of the Day
1860007988Philadelphia: By the Author 1860. First Edition. Blindstamped Cloth. Very Good. A few names still well-remembered with accounts of many now a distant memory from what had been the largest city in the United States until the late 18th Century. 8vo. 23.5 by 16 cm. 223 pp. 20 plates half of which are portraits with tinted background and the other half are maps or diagrams of streets. These diagrams in most instances have indications of the owners of storefronts. Two of the maps are folding expanding by their width. The widest with three folds doesn't name proprietors of stores but has pleasant drawings of the buildings although these drawings have a generic quality like Monopoly buildings and thus aren't reliable as a visual source of the actual appearance of the riverfront at the time. Although this was privately printed as indicated by its being published by the Author there is a substantial subscription list almost six pages long at the end. Howes R321. Condition: erosion of cloth at spine extremities. Tearing along joints repaired but still apparent where there was tear. Corners rubbed and other typical symptoms of shelfwear. Slight cocking of text block -- front board overhangs over rear board. Foxing generally light and other than along page edges quite occasional -- we don't think the foxing and other soiling and/or age toning is going to be disconcerting to most. By the Author unknown
