Very Scarce Booklet Published on the Opening of New York City's Subway

BURROUGHS & COMPANY. [New York, 1904]

New York City. BURROUGHS & COMPANY [New York, 1904]  The New York Subway Souvenir.  9 ¼ x 7 1/8 inches.  Paper covers. 47 pp. with several photos, advertisements, and a double-page subway map.  Some staining, scuffed area, & minor edge chipping to front cover; internally paper a bit age-toned, still excellent.        
                                                
                                                                                            

            Very scarce and informative booklet published on the occasion of the opening of New York City’s first subway line on October 27, 1904, illustrated with numerous photographs of its construction.  Its title as a “Souvenir” is quite misleading, as the work provides a thorough account of the conception and building of the subway and of those who participated in it.  It includes a double-page map, both a conventional over-view map and a profile of the line that interestingly shows the line’s considerable variants of grade.  There are photographic portraits of the prime movers of the subway, August Belmont, John B. McDonald and William Barclay Parsons.  Of considerable historical value is the work’s account of which contractors were responsible for which sections of the line.  And then there are the countless “fun facts” to be found in the work, such the speed reached by Express train was 30 mph.

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