The San Francisco City Directory. [First reprint]

San Francisco: Journal of Commerce Press, 1870 Book. Fine. Hardcover. First reprint of the rare 1850 first edition; this edition printed c. 1870. 24mo. 5½ x3 ¾ inches. 139pp. Original blind-ruled smooth maroon cloth lettered in gilt on front cover. Spine faded to brown and covers slightly spotted. Important contemporary red oval stamp on three leaves. A fine copy. First reprint of the exceedingly rare 1850 first edition of which there are only 5 or 6 copies known. Two nearly exact reprints of Kimball's original directory were published, probably by George W. Vincent, about 1870 and again about thirty years later in 1898. Both reprints were published with three additional pages of "omitted names" at the rear of the book. The second (and quite common) reprint (bound in dark maroon cloth) is distinguishable from this first, very scarce, reprint by the fact that in the list of "omitted names" of the later reprint, two "Donahoes" have been added. The first reprint of this famous directory (offered here) does not include the two names and was bound in a smoother maroon cloth. It is exceedingly scarce. In over fifty years we have been able to offer only one other copy of this first (1870) reprint. Our copy is stamped with a contemporary small red oval stamp of "Alexr B. Grogan. San Francisco." Alexander B. Grogan is listed in "Omited Names" and was part of the firm, Grogan & Lent, commercial merchants at the corner of Montgomery and Washington Streets. Kimball's directory was the first comprehensive San Francisco directory, with an alphabetical list of the names and addresses of the citizenry, street names and locations, government officials, and city services both public and private. [Cowan: pp.172-173; Graff: 2322; Greenwood: 236n; Howes I: K-134; Howes II: K-134; Rocq: 7979]. .