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Tall 8vo (8¾" x 4"), pp. vii, [1], 34, [2]; original printed yellow wrappers; supplemental list of subscribers printed on yellow paper tipped-in prior to the title page; light chipping of the wrappers and a mild waterstain pervades most of the text; otherwise very good. Rare. Greg Sargeant on Dennis Markham's website, ClassicRotaryPhones, provides the following information on the Providence Telephone Company, "which was formed out of the consolidation of two smaller interests, one Bell and one Western Union." The Bell concern was the Providence Telephone Exchange Company. They issued a directory of subscribers on October 29, 1879 in which they announced a new office in the Brownell Bldg. In 1880 they published an Official Directory of the Providence Telephone Exchange Company. The Western Union concern was the Providence District Telephone Company. In 1879 they issued a Prospectus and had offices on the 3rd floor of the Butler Exchange Building. In 1880 the company was chartered by an act of the General Assembly in association with the Western Union/Edison interests. Thus, these two individual companies were consolidated as the Providence Telephone Company in 1880. On January 1, 1881 they published this List of Subscribers. It is unnumbered, and there is no indication that another List preceded it. On January 1, 1882, Directory No. 3 was published. And by 1885 Directory no. 9 was published, so these were not published annually. We believe this is the first Providence Telephone Company Directory, and preceded only by the Providence Telephone Exchange Company's directories of 1879 and 1880. Includes a few words on courtesies of phone calling, directions for using the telephone, terms of rental, line rates, and a list of customers in the Providence, Pawtucket, Woonsocket, Bristol, East Greenwich, and North Attleboro exchanges. Not found in NUC or OCLC. Seller Inventory # 55375
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