Scarce, interesting, and finely bound book: The Life of John Jay: with Selections From His Correspondence and Miscellaneous Papers, Vols. I and II, by his son, William Jay. First edition. NY: J. &. J. Harper, 1833. Hardcover bound in three-quarter morocco with marbled boards, 6.25 x 9.25, 1022 pages. This is a desirable extra-illustrated copy, with engraved portraits of various subjects (often with facsimile signatures) bound into both volumes. Book condition: VG/None, with some scattered foxing to textblock and the bookplate of Joel Davis Madden, Jr., affixed inside each volume.
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.
