The Pioneer History of Illinois, Containing the Discovery, in 1673, and the History of the Country to the Year Eighteen Hundred and Eighteen, when the State Government was Organized.
Belleville, Ill. Published by N. A. Randall, 1852. First edition. 12mo, original blue cloth, gilt lettering, 348 pages. Spine sunned, with a couple spots of splashed ink; some light bumping; somewhat foxed; a good to very good copy. Item #18538
Byrd notes that most of the titles by Reynolds were printed on a press in his own law office by compositors hired as needed; the charming if rough and ready presswork suggests a well-used set of type. Howes R-237; Byrd 1882: "The Belleville Advocate called it the first book published in Bellevile [sic]. . . . Peck wrote most of the chapter entitled 'The Religion and Morals of Illinois' prior to the year 1818. For later chapters Reynolds sought material from early pioneers still living when he wrote." Bookplate of the Pittsburgh area collector Edwin Stanton Fickes on the front paste-down. (Fickes' extensive collection went en bloc to Decker after his death). Small ink bookseller stamp to the front free endpaper for Barker, Bookseller, 149 & 151 E. Madison, Chicago; Barker appears in ads in the 1880s as a "famous antiquarian cheap bookseller."
Price: $350.00