Five Hundred Past and Present Citizens, of Worcester, Mass.
Claflin of Worcester ; Black of Boston (photograph. Worcester, [Massachusetts]: Tyler & Seagrave, Printers 1870. First Edition. XI, [1-blank] pages plus 59 numbered leaves. 6 1/4 x 7 1/4 inches. All edges gilt. Duplicate title page. Rebacked in leather to style preserving boards. Plain grey endpapers over original marbled paper. Old leather is worn and chipping. Prelims contain a short introduction plus an extensive index of names and which page they are found on. Leaves 1-56 are numbered upper right. Each leaf has a light grey printed block within which is affixed an 3 1/2 x 5 1/8 inch albumen photograph. Each photograph contains nine shoulder up citizen portraits with names in block letters beneath. Leaves 57-59 were left blank, no doubt for additions. For a total of 504 "past and present" Worcester citizens. Extensive foxing and widely varying image tonality throughout. Dampstaining to inner corner prelims and some portrait leaves. Most portraits were taken from life, the balance from artwork. The index is essential as the portraits are not completely alphabetical even though the preface notes they are. Cover title is "Citizens of Worcester, Mass." Good. [28134]
Photographed by Claflin of Worcester and Black of Boston.
These photographic portrait books are not rare (more than a dozen copies of this particular one in libraries) but are almost always found well worn. For those interested about Worcester history, a great item because they can easily reference what the person(s) they are reading about looked like. It is also an interesting sourcebook when looking to detail migrations of citizens out of a major industrial Massachusetts hub to other cities or parts of the country.
Price: $275.00