Item #23209 The Old Merchants of New York. 5 Volumes Complete. Walter Barrett, Joseph Alfred Scoville.
The Old Merchants of New York. 5 Volumes Complete.

The Old Merchants of New York. 5 Volumes Complete.

New York: Thomas R. Knox & Co., 1885. Revised & expanded edition. Hardcover. An astonishingly thorough and very readable account of the powers of the day in mid 19th century New York City, with a wealth of historical detail on the major firms and their business and personal connections, and the individuals who operated them.

The author vividly describes the webs of connections formed amongst all the movers and shakers of the day. The New York Times wrote of "Barrett" in its 1863 review: "...our author would be fittingly represented by a sort of cross between Methuselah and the Calculating boy, so unfailing is his individual recollection of all that has happened on our Island, so intimate his knowledge of dates, figures, and even the street number of the houses occupied by his heroes." (New York Times. New York: November 26,1863. "New Publications: The Old Merchants of New York City). This important resource on the people of New York was first published in 1862 by George W. Carelton; this edition was published in 1885.

Joseph Scoville (1815–64) was an American journalist and novelist; editor of the New York Picayune (1850–52) and the Pick (1852–55). He is best known for this work.

Scoville states in the Preface, "When the writer prepared the first chapters of The Old Merchants for the columns of the New York Leader, it was with no intention of subsequently making a book of them; but the unexpected popularity of the papers, and the constantly increasing demand for back numbers, have induced him to revise them carefully and offer them to the reader in their present form. The author feels justified in saying that he has spared neither time nor expense in rendering the volume valuable as a book of reference; though a work involving so much historical detail, and requiring such laborious research, cannot, necessarily, be entirely free from inaccuracies."

8vo. Vol I: xx, 452pp; Vol II: xviii, 387pp; Vol III: xiii, 241pp; Vol IV: xvii, 333pp; Vol V: xii, 295pp. Each volume with an alphabetical Index of the names of New Yorkers and New York firms. Top edges gilt. Dark green gilt cloth, gilt slightly dulled at spine, a few small marks on covers. OCLC: 992126. Very good condition. Item #23209

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