Resolutions Passed by City Council

1888. A Fascinating Look at Denver in Its Early Decades [Scrapbook]. [Denver City Council]. Resolutions Passed by City Council [cover title]. [Denver, 1888-1889]. [100] pp. A few documents laid in. Quarto (11-1/4" x 9"). Three-quarter pebbled cloth over marbled paper boards, "Scrap Book" gilt-stamped to spine. Binding slightly cocked, moderate rubbing to boards, somewhat heavier rubbing to extremities with some wear to board edges and corners, which are bumped. Documents affixed to rectos and versos of first 64 pages. Light toning and edgewear to contents, light browning, edgewear and occasional chipping to scrapbook leaves, light toning, edgewear and occasional creases to documents. $2,500. * This scrapbook provides a fascinating look at Denver, Colorado, when it was about 30 years old. (The city was established in November 1858.) In 1888-1889 its mayor was the colorful Wolfe Londoner [1842-1912], a former dry-goods merchant who was elected by a campaign that turned to ballot stuffing and vote-buying. Most of the documents in this scrapbook are council resolutions, some of them appropriating sums of $250. to $500. to entertain various conventions for firemen, pharmaceutical salesmen and other visitors. Mayor Londoner, one of the leading entertainments in the city, took some of this money. An example from Denver's 1899 Festival and Mountain Plain suggests why he was such a draw: "Thursday, the Masquerade, was Wolfe Londoner's day and the people's, with Wolfe as director and star comedian. Wolfe is an autumn daisy, who banks his reputation partly on his resemblance to Cupid in top boots and gray mustache, partly on the after-dinner speeches with which he regales his newspaper chums, but mainly on the wine cellar that props up his store.