Young America in Wall-Street

New York: Derby & Jackson, 1857. First edition. 406 pp. 8vo. Publisher's blue cloth, covers decoratively stamped in blind, spine titled in gilt. Soiling to fore-edge of front cover, spine ends worn, scattered foxing to text. First edition. 406 pp. 8vo. First edition of this history of American finance by George Francis Train. Train (1829-1904) was born in Boston, received an education in Massachusetts, and found work in a relative's shipping office in Boston. He went on to manage the company's offices in Liverpool and Melbourne, Australia, before embarking on a tour of Asia, the Middle East, and Europe. Train became a proponent of streetcar lines in England and railroads in the American West, involved himself in numerous public issues, including the Fenian cause, and wrote several books. Train was a major supporter of women's rights, and provided financial backing for Susan B. Anthony's newspaper, THE REVOLUTION. Train was a candidate for the American presidency in 1872, joined the French Communists (only to be expelled from France in 1870), and championed Victoria Woodhull. His greatest impact on the public imagination stemmed from his around-the-world trip of 1870, which he accomplished in eighty days, serving as the inspiration for the Jules Verne novel. Train traveled around the world at least two more times, and became increasingly eccentric in his old age.