CENTENNIAL PORTFOLIO: A SOUVENIR OF THE INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION OF PHILADELPHIA, COMPRISING LITHOGRAPHIC VIEWS OF FIFTY OF ITS PRINCIPAL BUILDINGS, WITH LETTERPRESS DESCRIPTIO

Philadelphia: Thomas Hunte, 1876. viii pp. plus ground plan of exhibition and fifty-two color plates, each accompanied by a leaf of descriptive text (several of the description leaves contain building ground plans or additional text printed on verso). Oblong octavo. Original decorative cloth, stamped in black and gilt. Covers and spine slightly worn. Contemporary ownership inscription of "M.C. Conklin" on front flyleaf. Minor agetoning, occasional slight soiling in margins of plates. Slight paper abrasion on verso of front free endpaper and recto of front flyleaf. A very good copy. First and only edition (although there was a large paper issue of a few copies). Professor George Tatum has called this "the best known and most useful" of the many books describing the Centennial. It is also by far the most attractive, with lithographic plates printed in delicate colors. The tinted lithographic plates are of the ornate Victorian exhibition buildings. Among the illustrations are several of the buildings devoted to individual states, exhibits from several European nations, the cheese and butter building, the brewer's exhibit, the Singer Sewing Machine building, and Independence Hall. Also included are a map of the fairgrounds and floor plans for many of the buildings. Lithography by Hunter. THE BOOKS OF THE FAIRS 296. DAVIS, p.78. HITCHCOCK 1365 (note).