West Virginia: Its Farms And Forests, Mines And Oil- Wells; With A Glimpse Of Its Scenery, A Photograph Of Its Population, And An Exhibit Of Its Industrial Statistics

J. R. DODGE

Publication: J B Lippincott, 1865, Philadelphia

First edition. 8vo. Black pebble-grain blind-ruled cloth with titles stamped in gilt on the spine, vi, 276 pp., preface, illustrated from charts and tables, index.

Lovely first edition of this classic, the second oldest of only ten West Virginia oil-related titles published between the earliest (1864) and 1959, cited in E.B. Swanson's "A Century of Oil and Gas in Books: A Descriptive Bibliography" (1960). With the Civil War just ended, Americans were curious about the nation's newest state, then just two years of age. Produced to document and promote the state's economic potential by describing its agricultural production; its forests and timber resources; its coal, iron, salt, and other minerals; the emerging petroleum industry; transportation networks; its population and demographics; industrial statistics; etc. Department of Agriculture statistician Jacob Richards Dodge (1823-1902) was able to influence widely with this informative text. The final eleven of its 26 chapters of which address petroleum. A sharp copy of a scarce title. Surprisingly, not in Howes.

Trivial wear to head of spine else a near fine bright copy.