Manual of the Corporation of the City of New-York for the Years 1842 & 3

New York: Thomas Snowden, printer, 1842. First Edition. Quarter Calf. Blindstamped and gilt stamped cloth boards. Calf is modern, not original to volume. Good. Association copy, with penciled dedication or gift inscription from Valentine to Hamilton Fish, with a location and date written of Nyack, 1843, which we assume was the location of Hamilton Fish. This would be the first Hamilton Fish -- later generations had descendants with the same name who remained active in politics as Congressmen. This, the first of the line, had the most illustrious career of the the Fishes -- he was Governor of New York from 1849 to 1850, a Senator for one term immediately afterward, and a greatly esteemed Secretary of State under Grant, as well as his most influential advisor generally. Valentine (1801-1869) was the Chief Clerk of the City Council for many years, responsible for the publication of the successive city manuals, which under his authorship became much more than dry factual almanacs, as he came to enrich the manuals with city history and trivia, and by the 1860s, his manuals were replete with color plates of the city's landmarks and views, now highly collectible, both as separate plates but also in their original book form. His significance to New York history and nostalgia is evidenced by the fact that in the twentieth century there were a good many anthologies about bygone New York bearing his name. 12mo. 13 by 9.5 cm. 253, [1] pp. With fold-out map and fold-out plate of Croton Dam, drawn and lithographed by G. Hayward. Rebacked with calf spine. Edgewear to boards, and moderate wear and soiling generally to boards. Title page chipped and heavily toned along edge. Other leaves have more moderate, and to be expected, age toning.