Author: SHELDON, Henry I.
Title: Notes on the Nicaragua Canal
Description: Chicago, A.C. McClurg and Company, 1899. Hardcover. 8vo. Red cloth with gilt lettering and pictorial green front board stamping. iv, 242pp. Full-page plates, 5 maps (2 foldouts). Very good. Tight and fine internally, with the mildest of binding wear; lightly shellacked spine bears hand-lettered paper shelf label near foot. Attractive second edition of this 1897 text, which puts forth the cae for Nicaragua as the logical spot for an Atlantic to Pacific canal, an age-old issue floated many times and we all know who won out -- and proposals for its construction continue to this day. This choice presentation copy is handsomely inscribed (with usual signoff) in black ink on the front flyleaf to a mover-and-shaker in Congress whose support Sheldon knew would be critical: "To -- Hon. William B. Allison, / In recognition of his long / public services, especially with the / leading financial measures of the / Government of the United States, / with the kind regards of / The Author." From the collection of William B. Allison (1829-1908), the powerful Iowa Republican who, as U.S. senator from that state (1873-1908), was one of the "big four" who controlled the Senate; as chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee for most of those years, he championed tariff legislation and co-authored the Bland-Allison Act of 1878; as member of the Senate Finance Committee he was often courted by U.S. presidents to hold cabinet positions. Early 20th century bookplate on front pastedown notes "This book is part of Allison Memorial Collection Gift of Mrs. Jennie A. Brayton" and until deaccessioned was part of Allison's non-circulating collection at his hometown public library across the street from his Dubuque residence. Notes Leland L. Sage in his 1956 biography "William Boyd Allison: A Study in Practical Politics," Allison owned "hundreds of books on government, economics, history, banking, finance, and the tariff.. An omnivorous reader, Allison doubtless read most of these volumes, if only for relaxation from the strain that accompanied his efforts to solve the many problems facing the Nation...

Keywords: Americana Nautical


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