[Rarebooks] FS: Merchants of Old New York, 1889 5 volumes

[Joslin Hall Rare Books]

TITLE: “The Old Merchants of New York City”

By Walter Barrett [pseud. for Joseph A. Scoville].
Published in New York by John W. Lovell Company in 1889.

DISCUSSION: Originally published between 1863 and 1870.

On November 26, 1863, the New York Times reviewed the first volume- "The
circumstances under which New-York has, within our own lifetime, risen
from a petty provincial town to its present status of the largest
commercial port in the world, and the third in population among cities of
Christian civilization, are entirely exceptional, and have no parallel in
ancient or modern history. The social and economic changes incident to
such a transformation will be of the highest interest to the future
philosophic historian, who will be thankful for the contribution to the
knowledge of the subject contained in these volumes. In all former
commercial countries, Venice, Genoa, Holland, England, the mercantile
aristocracy has been enduring and permanent -- hereditary, in fact -- as
much so as the lands and titles of the nobleman. The merchants of New-York
have been, with scarcely an exception, the founders of their own fortunes,
and their princely revenues are the work of their own hands. To these men
and their successful enterprise, and not to the noisy politicians, the
unexampled growth of the City is due, and it is fitting that they should
not pass away without a record like that which our author seems supremely
qualified to furnish. What DAVID VALENTINE is among the material
antiquities of Manhattan, WALTER BARRETT is in relation to the human
interests of the same olden time. The need of such chroniclers is
peculiarly felt among us, because, from the shifting nature of its
population, there is in New-York almost a total absence of the current
tradition that connects the present with past times in smaller and slower
moving communities. Mr. BARRETT intimates that his budget is far from
being exhausted, and we hope to see many other volumes from his pen,
equally bristling with facts and figures as the present."

A 1921 review proclaimed- "The literary history of our city presents few
examples of a book that can compare in human interest with Walter
Barrett's "Old Merchants of New York." In 1863 Mr. Barrett contributed
several articles on this subject to the columns of the "New York Leader,"
going back to the old merchants of the 1830s, and these articles so
stirred the interest of the public that he decided to put them into book
form. Of course he enlarged and amplified the subject, so that we have a
very complete and certainly a most informative account of these old
traders and founders of our commercial greatness. What gives those
narratives such an intense interest is that we are shown the many
sidedness of these old merchants: sometimes humorous, sometimes pathetic,
sometimes downright selfish, but al-ways true to human nature, and the
story is told in such a bright and breezy fashion as to make the book more
than usually interesting."

DESCRIPTION: 5 volumes. Hardcover. 5.75"x8", 452 + 387 + 241 + 333 + 295
pages.

CONDITION NOTES: Bindings somewhat worn and lightly soiled, some hinges a
bit wonky, Volume 3 had some black stains on the cover (please see the
photo, below), Volume IV is lacking the front endsheet and blank endpaper,
and the rear endsheet is torn. Some scattered internal soil to all 5
volumes.

PRICE: $275 -

SOME PICS =>

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