A Practical Detail of the Cotton Manufacture of the United States of America; and the State of the Cotton Manufacture of That Country Contrasted and Compared with that of Great Britain; with Comparative Estimates of the Cost of Manufacturing in Both Countries. Illustrated by Appropriate Engravings. Also, a Brief Historical Sketch of the Rise and Progress of the Cotton Manufacture in America, and Statistical Notices of Various Manufacturing Districts in the United States.
Glasgow: John Niven, 1840. First Edition. Hard Cover. Very Good / No Jacket. Item #2324139
First edition (Sabin 50149). Rebound in black pebbled cloth, with original spine label laid down, new gilt rules. Includes frontispiece and all fold-outs. Boards lightly soiled.
xi, 219 pp., 8 fold-out plates and 2-page publisher advertisement follow text, engraved frontispiece of York Factories in Saco, Maine. "The author was superintendent of the York factories, Saco." An account of the machinery used in cotton mills, and the relative merits of manufacturing in the United States vs. Great Britain. Because the work focuses on the spinning of cotton at mills rather than the harvesting of cotton at plantations, the controversy surrounding American slave labor is neatly avoided. It's unclear whether this was intentional, or even whether the question was of any concern to the author.
Price: $325.00