Uncommon first edition book: History of Delaware County and Border Wars of New York: Containing a Sketch of the Early Settlements in the County and a History of the Late Anti-rent Difficulties in Delaware, with Other Historical and Miscellaneous Matter, Never Before Published, by Jay Gould. First edition. Roxbury, MA: Keeny & Gould, 1856. Hardcover, 5.5 x 7.75, 426 pages. Book condition: VG-/None, with rubbing, soiling, and wear to boards, cocked spine, and the bookplate of Joel Davis Madden, Jr., affixed to front pastedown.
Published when Jay Gould—now remembered as a railroad magnate and 'robber baron'—was just twenty years old, History of Delaware County and Border Wars of New York is based on primary sources and original testimony from second and third generation settlers, many of them Gould's own friends and cousins. The book continues to be an important source on the first settlement of the region and is highly regarded by scholars.
Joel Davis Madden, Jr., left Princeton University in 1905 and moved west to make his fortune in the railroad industry. He went on to become an executive with the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, and died suddenly in 1928 at the age of 41. His book collection, offered by his granddaughter, has not been publicly offered or privately sold in a century.
