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Wilson & Nichols.] Colden, Cadwallader D. (1769-1834). Memoir, prepared at the request of a committee of the common council of the city of New York, and presented to the Mayor of the city, at the celebration of the completion of the New York canals. v, [3], 408, [2]pp. 53 maps, portraits and plates, including engraved portrait frontispiece and eight lithographic facsimiles. New York: Printed by Order of the Corporation of New York, 1825[-26]. 246 x 195 mm. Presentation binding by Wilson & Nichols of full straight-grained red morocco tooled with decorative rolls, fillets and stamps in gilt and blind, elaborate gilt turn-ins, pale green endpapers, signed "Wilson & Nichols Bind. N.Y." at the foot of the spine; boxed. Slight wear at hinges, minor foxing to some of the plates, but a fine example. Presentation Copy, inscribed by New York City Alderman John Agnew to his brother, Cornelius Agnew, on the front flyleaf; presentation slip inscribed by Cornelius Agnew to his nephew, noted American surgeon Cornelius Rea Agnew (1830-88), tipped in below the first inscription. First Edition of one of the earliest works illustrated by lithography in the United States, published upon completion of the Erie Canal, the first great engineering achievement in America. Colden s Memoir describes the route of the canal, the history of canal development and the navigable waterways of the Northeast. The Grand Celebration commemorating this important event was held on 4 November 1823. The lithographs in the volume hold an important place in the history of American printmaking. The scenes of Buffalo and Lockport are the first lithograph town views published in the United States and are the earliest examples of the work of George Catlin (1796-1872). The work also includes a description of the history of the lithograph process on pp. 349-351, among the earliest such descriptions in America. This copy is one of several bound for presentation by Stephen T. Wilson and Ebenezer Nichols, proprietors of the New York bindery Wilson & Nicols. "Together they bound and signed a number of presentation copies of Colden s Memoir, including copies presented to John Adams, John Quincy Adams, and Thomas Jefferson" (Spawn & Kinsella, p. 147). A copy in a similar binding was displayed at the Grolier Club s 1962 exhibition of Michael Papantonio s collection of early American bookbindings. Spawn & Kinsella, American Signed Bindings through 1876, no. 160. . Seller Inventory # 44599
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