Seward, Olive Risley (Editor)

William H. Seward's Travels Around The World [Association Copy - inscribed to "Mrs. Crosby"]

New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1873. First Edition. Leather bound. Large octavo size, 750 pp., inscribed by Olive Risley Seward. Near fine. Item #22100106

William Henry Seward (1801-1872) served as the U.S. Secretary of State (1861-1869), before which he was the twelfth Governor of New York (1839-1842) and a U.S. Senator. A prominent political figure, he opposed slavery; in fact, his "strong stances and provocative words against slavery brought him hatred in the South" (n.b., quote from Wiki).

This work chronicles Seward's travels to the Middle East and Europe during 1870 and 1871 with Olive and her younger sister, Harriet. Based largely on Olive's journal, it opens with their travel to San Francisco, and from thence to Japan, China, British India, Egypt and Palestine, and parts of Europe. Seward and Olive Risley Seward (1844-1908), his adopted daughter, began the work together; it was not yet finished when Seward passed away, leaving Olive to complete it. Published in 1873 it became a best-seller, bringing Seward's estate $50,000 (equivalent to $1,250,000 today).

This the deluxe version bound in full leather, and made more special as it is inscribed thus: "For Mrs. Crosby / San Jose / California / With the regards of / her friend / Olive Risley Seward / Washington D.C. / March the 10th 1873". While we can never know with certainty, it is entirely possible that this "Mrs. Crosby" is the wife of Elisha Oscar Crosby (1818-1895), a California pioneer of 1849 and one of the framers of the California state constitution, referred to as " one of the 'Fathers of the State of California'."

___DESCRIPTION: Bound in full brown leather over bevelled boards, both boards with a central decoration and ruled borders debossed in a darker brown, spine also with decorations and border debossed in the same darker brown, gilt lettering on the spine, all edges gilt, inner gilt dentelles, marbled endpapers, the inscription referred to above written in a flowing hand in ink on the front flyleaf, frontis a steel engraving of Seward with facsimile signature below, profusely illustrated throughout with both full-page and in-text illustrations ("Two Hundred" according to the title page), three-panel folding map "Showing Mr. Seward's Route Through Asia, Africa, and Europe"; large octavo size (9 3/8" by 6 5/8"), pagination: [i-iii] iv-xii [1-3] 4-730 [8, publisher's ads].

___CONDITION: Near fine, the leather on the boards supple and with only minor wear, straight corners with minimal rubbing, a strong, square text block with solid hinges, the interior is clean, the folding map fine with no tears, and entirely free of prior owner markings; some light cracking to the leather of the spine due to it having been bound as a tight back, light off-setting to the title page from the frontis opposite (n.b., a modern tissue guard was inserted, one can just see remnants of the original tissue guard in the gutter margin), and some light scattered foxing throughout. Overall a lovely example with a special inscription.

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Price: $500.00