Buffalo Business Directory, With Alphabetical and Classified Index.

1855. BUFFALO. Buffalo Business Directory, With Alphabetical and Classified Index. Containing, Also, Advertisements of the Principal Business Houses in Rochester, Chicago, etc. [5], 230, [1] pp., profusely illustrated. 8vo, 223 x 150 mm., bound in publisher's elaborately blind and gilt stamped green cloth. [Buffalo]: Hunter & Ostrander, Democracy Printing Association, 1855. An exceptionally well-preserved copy of this scarce directory for Buffalo on the eve of the Civil War. The variety of advertisements, many of which are illustrated, testify to the immense vitality of Buffalo in the middle of the nineteenth century even before the advent of the industry which developed as a result of the exploitation of Niagara Falls. This was the first business directory for Buffalo. Apart from minor damage to the binding, this is an exceptionally fine copy of this rare directory.