6298

Mineral Resources West of the Rocky Mountains, 1869-1876 [181670]

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Mining Start Price:50.00 USD Estimated At:500.00 - 700.00 USD
Mineral Resources West of the Rocky Mountains, 1869-1876 [181670]
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Eight volumes comprising 1869-1876, from the first report of the Mineral Commissioner to the Eighth Report by Ross Raymond. Raymond was a graduate of teh Freiberg School of Mines. He followed in the footsteps of J. Ross Browne, who wrote the 1867 and 1868 volumes, found elsewhere in this catalog. Browne was unable to get paid for his work for the federal government , who subsequently let he, and later Raymond, have private publishers print their books under different titles. Both men used New York publishers such as Ford, and others. Book collectors will note that the spines for these volumes are very often, if not most of the time, mismarked with the year on the outside. The key is to look at the title page and ascertain teh "first annual report" etc.
Professional researchers consider these works as pure gold. Their triple indexes are critically important. These reports not only discuss mines, but geology, production, employment, ancillary businesses, mill and mine designs, monetary factors guiding metal prices and everything you ever wanted to know about mining, milling, timber and metals.
The purpose of teh work was to educate the American public about the businesses just mentioned. while J. Ross Browne's work led the way, Raymond's work was a major force in understanding the difference between real producing mines, mines with potential, and outright scams. The investor now had a solid base of information from which to make decisions, which included investments in the stock market.
As most serious students of government research know, the bindings of the Fed were cheap and often chip, tear and wear, while the contents are generally very sound. Such is the case here. likewise, many of the bindings display the incorrect year on the spine. This set was assembled using the data on the title page, so it is complete.
Raymond did not get paid for the last year. It was also not financed by Congress until a year later, so the spines on some show 1877 instead of 1876.
This series ended here. The service was far too valuable to the public and the government, which created the office of the US Geological Survey. Additionally, the fed turned over regular reporting of mines and mine production to the US Bureau of the Mint under Horatio Burchard, who published volumes from 1880-1885, with the 1880-1883 four volumes appearing elsewhere in this sale, another critical reference.
While individual volumes of this series appear in our sales, a full set is very rare indeed. [