Great National Thoroughfare from the West and South-West, into New England, by the Northern, or Lake Route, from New Orleans to New York, Boston and Portland.
[Chicago? n. p.], December, 1847. First edition. 8vo, original wrappers bound into later full cloth, gilt lettering, 16 pages. Old light vertical crease, some light wear; a very good copy. Item #18548
An important step in the development of the Illinois Central Railroad, an early argument for the Chicago route for a railroad from Cairo to Galena, the financial (and even military) advantages here argued to prospective investors by the latest iteration of the Great Western Railway Co. (which had already gone through three charters, the last charter repealed by special act of the state legislature in 1845). The Chicago route was favored by Stephen Douglas over the original plans proposed by Sidney Breese, and the company was at last granted another charter by the state legislature in early 1849; Breese secured congressional passage in 1850 for the land grant that would support the construction of the railroad and lead to boom times in Illinois. Small printing flaw to one page, but no loss of sense. Sabin 28455.
Price: $400.00