Letters on Yellow Fever, the Cholera, and Quarantine: Addressed to the Legislature of the State of New York with Additions and Notes

New York: McSpedon and Baker, 1852. Front joint cracked, front cover largely detached, internally clean. 8vo. 88 pages. Superb folding frontispiece "View of the New-York Quarantine, Staten Island," lithographed by G. Hayward for David Valentine's 1851 Manual. Original cloth, gilt letterered on front cover. First edition. A wonderful association copy, inscribed by the author to Alfred E. Beach on the front free endpaper: "To Alfred E. Beach Esq. With the compliments of Alexr. F. Vache." The inventor Alfred Beach designed the Beach Pneumatic Transit, which became the first subway in America. He was an early owner and cofounder of Scientific American and Munn & Co., the country's leading patent agency, and helped secure patents for Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, Cornelius Vanderbilt, and other innovators. And with the bookplate of his brother, Moses S. Beach, American newspaper owner, editor, inventor, and politician from New York. His papers were the Boston Daily Times and the New York Sun. He ran the Sun through most of the American Civil War, and was active during the Presidency of Abraham Lincoln. He was also featured in Mark Twain's book The Innocents Abroad, after embarking on the Quaker City to visit Europe and the Holy Land.