Twenty Years in the Press Gallery: A Concise History of Important Legislation from the 48th to the 58th Congress -- The Part Played by the Leading Men of That Period and the Interesting and Impressive Incidents. Impressions of Official and Political Life in Washington

Introduction by Henry Watterson. Illustrations by Clifford K. Berryman. Small 4to. Bright blue cloth with gilt lettering and decoration. xii, 497pp. Top edge gilt. Frontispiece, full-page plates. Near fine. Spine lightly, faintly shellacked, with hand-lettered paper shelf label near foot. Handsome and tight first edition of this thick tome, whose subtitle continues: "Also Crisp and Vivid Character Sketches of the Men Prominent in Public Life by Well-Known Washington Correspondents." The second of the great many leading senators and representatives profiled (pp. 180-83) by various journalists -- 77, to be exact -- is the man from whose library this copy hails: William B. Allison (1829-1908), the powerful Iowa Republican who, as U.S. senator from that state (1873-1908), was one of the "big four" who controlled the Senate; as chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee for most of those years, he championed tariff legislation and co-authored the Bland-Allison Act of 1878; as member of the Senate Finance Committee he was often courted by U.S. presidents to hold cabinet positions. Early 20th century bookplate on front pastedown notes "This book is part of Allison Memorial Collection Gift of Mrs. Jennie A. Brayton" and until deaccessioned was part of Allison's non-circulating collection at his hometown public library across the street from his Dubuque residence. According to Sage, Allison owned "hundreds of books on government, economics, history, banking, finance, and the tariff. An omnivorous reader, Allison doubtless read most of these volumes, if only for relaxation from the strain that accompanied his efforts to solve the many problems facing the Nation." Quite an unusual, choice copy.…