Manhattan The Magical Island, Lubschez 1927. This beautiful book is titled “Manhattan The Magical Island, One Hundred and Eight Pictures of Manhattan With Prelude and Descriptive Notes” by Ben Judah Lubschez, a first edition limited and numbered copy, published in New York by the Press of the American Institute of Architects, Inc. MCMXXVII [1927], and it comes with the original dust jacket. The limitation page says “… Number 23 of One Hundred Eight Copies Of This Book Selected By The Author To Be Specially Bound and Autographed”, with the author’s signature below, and it comes in a dust jacket that is price-clipped. The book has bright gilt letters on the spine and a gilt title on the front board, endpapers showing the skyline of New York and an outline of Manhattan, the half-title and limitation pages, a beautiful frontis photo of New York, the copyright page is dated 1927, which along with the limitation page makes this a first edition, and there is a two-page Preface, a four-page Prelude, sixteen pages of Notes, and 108 pages of photographs, including the frontis page, and all the edges are gilt. The front of the dust jacket says “Special Edition of 108 Copies” at the bottom, and the book has stunning black and white photos of Manhattan. The book measures 12 3/8 x 9 1/4 in. wide, the binding is tight and the pages and text are very clean (one page has a couple of light brown spots in the margin and that’s it), the boards have a tad of rubbing a the heel, and crown and very light wear at the tips, and the dust jacket has a split along the left edge and paper loss on the spine, but the book is not affected at all, and the front cover of the dust jacket has a beauty of its own. There are only seven copies listed for sale online, and none of them are limited and numbered editions and only one has a dust jacket, so this is a rare and beautiful copy that is numbered and signed by the author and a first edition with exquisite photographs of Manhattan in the 1920’s, and a perfect gift for someone who lives on the island. #214 #1555