Estate / Collection: Property from the Estate of Elaine and James D. Wolfensohn

HALES, JOHN G.

A Survey of Boston and Its Vicinity... Boston: Ezra Lincoln, 1821. Modern three-quarters leather, red leather spine label, marbled paper boards, binder's label. 7 1/2 x 4 1/2 inches (18.75 x 11.25 cm); 155 pp., engraved frontispiece of the Boston State House by Abel Buell, folding map of Mill Dam. Minor wear to spine ends, contents lightly toned, intermittent spotting, occasional staining, a few short marginal tears, and some pencil annotations, uncut, bookseller's description and gift note laid in.

An early nineteenth-century guidebook to Boston and its surrounding area, with extensive information on the distances between various towns and landmarks given in yards. The points of interest include roads, municipal buildings, important families' estates, and businesses such as factories, mills, and taverns. The book also includes short topographical sketches of the covered areas, and a description and folding map of the recently completed Mill Dam project. This dam was built in the tidal basin of the Charles River between Boston and Sewall's Point (now near Kenmore Square). It had a dual purpose, serving as both a toll road and a source of energy powering industrial mills. In the end, the dam caused a build-up of sewage in the tidal basin, so the city abandoned the malodorous project by 1855 when it began infilling the tidal basin.