Manual of the Corporation of the City of New York - Complete Set of 28 Vols.,1841-1870, in Publisher's Bindings [New York City] VALENTINE, David Thomas Americana,Architecture,Cartography,Colonial Americana,History & Historiography

A total of 28 volumes, 12mo and 8vo, of varying pagination. Lavishly published with maps, charts and tinted lithographic views. All in original cloth or contemporary calf.Condition: Plates and maps conform to their itemization in Valentine's Manuals: A General Index. A few vols. with loose maps, or maps with closed tears, usually along original map folds; some are repaired with varying skill. One vol. ex-libris. Most with scattered foxing consistent with age; some vols. notably fresh. The binding of the 1861 vol. is cracked; the front hinge of the 1870 vol. is split. Old bookplates in some annuals, some of them contemporary; a few with pencil notes of early 20th c. auctions at which they were sold, Anderson Galleries prominent among them, along with auction receipts. In general, respective condition is Very Good or better. Five volumes are presentation copies inscribed by David Valentine (for the years 1849, 1851, 1852, 1854, 1857); two (years 1861, 1870) are presentation copies from Charles Riley, although we have been unable to ascertain his role in preparing those volumes. In sum, a desirable set. A rare complete run of first editions of Valentine's Manual of New York, "one of the best and most used sources for information about New York City" with accompanying folding maps, charts, and enticing, tinted, lithograph views.David Valentine's Manual remains "one of the best and most used sources for information about New York City during three decades of the nineteenth century, published annually between 1841 and 1870 (except in 1867)." In 1830, when Valentine became Deputy Clerk of the Common Council, he manifested his interest in city history by staunching the flow of municipal documents that were being channeled "to second-hand book- and print-shops, and so passed on into the outstretched hands of covetous autograph- and relic-hunters" (Lawrence and Hufeland: Valentine's Manuals: A General Index (reprint, 1981)).As Valentine's title suggests, his manuals served as guides to current New York City with contemporary maps, plans, facts and figures (elected officials, demographics, tax rolls, etc.), but also reproduced historical print matter under his care as ad hoc archivist. Thus, in addition to acting as preservationist, Valentine shared his enthusiasm for city history by reproducing, say, the 1664 map "A Description of the Towne of Mannados or New Amsterdam," an 1830 view of Tammany Hall, or early newspaper extracts. Historical data appear for the first time in the volume for 1844-45. That material became increasingly copious with the publication of every annual, as the growing size of the volumes attest. All told, some-800 illustrations and maps of old New York were published, many considered worthy of framing. Amid those visual delights, Valentine's annuals presented the facts and figures of the year they documented, including, for example, votes received by politicians, costs of operating jails, a roster of licensed pawnbrokers, names of every policeman and the wards in which they serve, and so forth. Uncommon as a set in original bindings. Original cloth; occasional leather