105 + [23] ad pp. With folding lithographed map, hand-colored. (12mo) 17x11.5 cm (6¾x4!"), original printed wrappers. Fisrst Edition.
Scarce description of Nebraska, which comprised at this time all the area north of Kansas and east of the continental divide, subsequently becoming the states of Montana, North and South Dakota, and Nebraska, although at this time only a small portion had been surveyed and opened for formal entry. Streeter notes that "Wagner-Camp indicates that this book was printed and published in Omaha, but it was stereotyped, printed and copyrighted in New York. It is a gazetteer of Nebraska Territory and is one of the first, if not the fist, published accounts of the territory in book form..." The map, "Nebraska and Kanzas," prepared by J.H. Colton & Co., New York, measures 32x38,7 cm including decorative border. It has and inset "Map of the Surveyed Portion of Nebraska" showing the counties. The right margin is trimmed to the edge of the border to facilitate folding into the book. Imprint of secondary publisher A.S. Barnes, New York, beneath that of Woolworth; there are additional publishers listed on the front wrapper. Only one copy has sold at auction since 1975 according to American Book Prices Current, and Rare Book Hub adds to that the Streeter copy in 1968.
Provenance: Ross Valley Book Company, 6/91
References: Howes W-670. W-C 295. CS-G 4746. Streeter 2005 (printed cloth). Documentary History of Colorado, No. 27.
Condition:
Wrappers worn, darkened, rear detached, earlier repairs; ink owneship signature at top of title-page dated 1901; very good, in modern folding box.