The family encyclopedia of useful knowledge and general literature

Large 8vo in 4s (approx. 10¼" x 6½"), pp. [6], 960; alphabetical text in double column; engraved oval frontispiece portrait of George Washington, and 22 lithographs by Pendleton of notable American architecture; contemporary quarter diced russia over marbled boards; boards worn, neatly rebacked with old spine laid down; internally clean and the binding remains sound. Early owner's ownership signature on two flyleaves and recto of the frontispiece. Originally published in monthly parts beginning in 1832 (of which no copies in OCLC), this is the first book edition. Among the buildings represented are City Hall, Augusta, Georgia; Columbia College; the Deaf and Dumb Asylum, Philadelphia; Mount Auburn Cemetery; Andover Theological Seminary; Mount Vernon; the Arcade in Providence; Kenyon College; Dartmouth College; the Capitol of Pennsylvania at Harrisburg; Yale College and State House; The White House, State House in Boston, and City Hall in New York, among others. That six of the nine records in OCLC are for individual plates suggests that this was a book often broken up for the lithographs. OCLC locates a total of only 7 copies: Yale, Boston Athenaeum, Boston Public, Harvard, Lehigh, Houston, and the University of Edinburgh. Not noted in Walsh, Anglo-American General Encyclopedias. Not in the Arents Collection of Books in Parts. American Imprints 23440; Sabin 5782.…