Letters, Addressed to the People of Pennsylvania Respecting the Internal Improvement, of the Commonwealth; by Means of Roads and Canals

Philadelphia, Pa: Jane Aitken, 1811. Paperback. Very Good -. [2], 125, [1] p.; 21 cm. Disbound from a nonce volume. Former owner's name at head of title page: Jennie W. Baird. Early American Imprints, 2nd series (Shaw & Shoemaker), 22727. Howes, D-516. The author, William J. Duane (1780-1865), was a Philadelphia lawyer who married Benjamin Franklin's granddaughter, Deborah Franklin Bache. He served several terms in the Pennsylvania Assembly and briefly as Secretary of the United States Treasury during President Andrew Jackson's battle against the Bank of the United States. While serving in the state legislature in 1809-10, Duane had chaired the standing committee on roads and internal navigation, which inspired him to compose letters urging legislative support for the development of road and canal companies, which were published in the Philadelphia newspaper the Aurora (run by his father, William Duane) under the pseudonym "Franklin." Those 16 letters are here revised and reprinted with an appendix containing letters illustrating the establishment of transportation companies in New York state. In Very Good- Condition: disbound; foxing, light except for the title page; light corner creasing; title page and several following pages are partially detached; otherwise pages are solid.