The Cincinnati, Covington, Newport and Fulton Directory, for 1840: Comprising the Names of Households, Heads of Families, and Those Engaged in Business, Together with the State or Country of Their Birth, &c

Cincinnati: Printed by J.B. & R.P. Donogh, 1839. Good.. 520pp. plus 10 plates. Lacks pp.25-26. Modern quarter morocco and marbled boards. Scattered foxing and soiling to text, outer leaves with some chipping and wear. Top half of pp.43-46 cut away (ads), likewise bottom half of pp.55-56 (also ads). A solid copy. Scarce early directory for Cincinnati, with additional coverage of the small towns of Covington and Newport located directly across the river in Kentucky. The first eighty pages contain advertisements for local businesses, printed in blue, brown, red, or green ink, and often illustrated. (It is assumed that the leave which have been cut away contained interesting woodcut advertisements, resulting in their removal from the volume.) The ten plates interspersed throughout the text are engraved advertisements for businesses in the area. There follows an alphabetical listing for each town, with Cincinnati comprising the bulk of the text, and the three little towns occupying the last eighty or so pages. Each individual is listed with name, address, and state or country of origin, providing a fascinating study in the ethnic makeup of the region at this time. Interestingly, there is a segregated section at the end labeled "Colored," listing approximately three hundred African-American residents in Cincinnati with their addresses and state of origin.

We locate a handful of institutional copies, half of which are in Ohio institutions. The last copy to appear at auction came up at Swann in 1991. A good solid copy of this scarce directory.

Checklist of American Imprints, 54966. Morgan 3622. Spear, p.101.