The Dutch and Quaker Colonies in America.
Boston: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1899. Hardcover. Complete 2-volume set. Small 8vo. Blue cloth with gilt spine lettering. xvi, 294pp; xvi, 400pp, (4pp ads). Top edge gilt. Volume I frontispiece map, maps (some foldout). Near fine. Other than a few leaves in first volume having been a bit rudely cut, a bright and lovely set. Hand-lettered paper shelf label near foot of each spine. Item #50096
First edition -- tight and attractive -- of this classic, long the standard chronicle of this early period. Also exists in burgundy cloth, with no priority. From the collection of 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. Notes Leland L. Sage in his 1956 biography "William Boyd Allison: A Study in Practical Politics," 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...."
Price: $150.00