History of the City of New York 3 Volume Set from 1896 by Lamb and Harrison. 

Size: (each) 9 1/4 X 6 1/2 X 1 1/4 in. 

This three-volume set by Martha Lamb and Constance Cary Harrison is titled History of the City of New York: Its Origin, Rise and Progress, it is an illustrated set, and it was published by A. S. Barnes in 1896. The books are three-quarter bound, with five raised bands, six gilt-ruled compartments with gilt lettering and gilt devices on the spine, marbled endpapers, “Bound by Henry Blackwell” is in small print at the top of the first blank endpaper of each volume, then the half-title and title pages, and the copyright pages says 1877, 1880, 1896, which means the first edition was published in 1877, the second edition was published in 1880, and the third edition came out   in 1896, and the top edges are gilt. Volume I has a frontis engraving of “Manhattan Island in Primeval Solitude”, a two-page Preface by Matha Lamb, a five-page list of Contents (v - ix), a three-page list of Illustrations and Maps (xi - xiii), and the text runs to page 570. Volume II has a two-page Preface, a three-page list of Contents (vii - ix), a List of Illustrations and Maps (xi - xii), and the text is in two parts : the first part runs from page 571 to 768, followed by a three-page Appendix, and the second part runs from page 11 to 350 - there are no missing pages in the second part, that’s just the way the pages were numbered. The third volume has a four-page list of Contents, a three-page list of Illustrations and Maps, and the text runs from page 351 to 866, followed by an Appendix that runs to page 870 and a comprehensive Index from 871 to 912 and a second Index from 913 to 920 that covers chapter LI. Martha J. Lamb (1829-1893) was an author, editor and historian. She moved to New York City, where, in 1883 she purchased The Magazine of American History and became its editor. She was elected to membership in fifteen historical and learned societies in the United States and Europe. Constance Cary Harrison (1843-1920) was originally a southerner (her husband was a private secretary to Jefferson Davis) who moved to New York in 1866. Among many other accomplishments, she persuaded her friend Emma Lazarus to donate a poem to the fundraising effort to pay for a pedestal for the Statue of Liberty. The books measure 9 1/4 x 6 1/2 inches wide and are in very good condition. The bindings are tight and the pages and text are clean, as are the maps and illustrations. There’s light wear and some bumps along the edges of the spines, light wear at some tips, and a really informative and attractive set about one of the most important cities in this country from the founding days of the city. First editions from 1877 run up to $750, second editions from 1880 go for up to $700, and the third edition of 1896 goes for up to $250.