Art, Gold & Silver, Primitives & Rare Books
Lot 102:
Description
Offered here is a complete sixteen-volume set of The New American Cyclopaedia: A Popular Dictionary of General Knowledge, edited by George Ripley and Charles A. Dana, and published in New York by D. Appleton & Company beginning in 1857. This monumental mid-19th century American reference work was one of the most ambitious publishing projects of its era, serving as a comprehensive encyclopedia for a rapidly expanding nation. The work predates the later “American Cyclopaedia” revision and represents the original foundational printing of this important intellectual enterprise. Volume I is dated MDCCCLVII (1857) on the title page, with the copyright entry reading “Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1857, by D. Appleton & Company.” The set extends through Volume XVI (V–ZWI), consistent with the original sixteen-volume issuance. Each volume retains its original period half-leather binding with gilt-lettered black spine labels reading “NEW AMERICAN CYCLOPAEDIA, ” volume designation, and alphabetical range. The books feature marbled edges and marbled endpapers, typical of quality Appleton bindings of the era. The leather shows expected age-related wear including rubbing, scuffing, and light dryness, consistent with honest 19th-century use. Interiors appear clean overall with light foxing and minor age toning. This work is historically significant for its breadth of coverage, contemporary scholarship, and editorial leadership under Ripley and Dana, both notable intellectual figures of 19th-century American publishing. The set reflects the intellectual climate of antebellum America and was widely regarded as one of the finest encyclopedic works produced in the United States at the time.
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