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1876 VISITORS\' GUIDE CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION PHILADELPHIA LIPPINCOTT FOLDING MAPS
Title:Visitors’ Guide to the Centennial Exhibition and Philadelphia. May 10th to November 10th, 1876
Author:No individual author credited
Publisher:J. B. Lippincott & Co., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Publication Date:1875 copyright; issued for the 1876 Exhibition
Edition:Authorized edition, cloth issue
Today we are pleased to offer this cloth-bound authorized edition of Visitors’ Guide to the Centennial Exhibition and Philadelphia, published by J. B. Lippincott & Co. for the exhibition held from May 10th to November 10th, 1876. The copyright notice is dated 1875 and names the Centennial Guide Book Company (Limited). Authorization by the Centennial Board of Finance and approval by the Director-General are stated on the title page, which also advertises it as “The only guide-book sold on the Exhibition grounds.” This compact guide is bound in red textured cloth, with elaborate black-stamped lettering and ornament on the front cover, a blind-stamped rear cover, and a plain cloth spine.
Both folding maps are present. The black-and-white Reference Map of a Portion of Philadelphia Showing the Principal Points of Interest combines the street plan with transportation routes, railway depots, prominent landmarks, and the Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers. The second map, Plan of the Grounds and Buildings of the Centennial Exhibition at Philadelphia, 1876, uses color to distinguish buildings, roads, landscaped areas, and water features. Its numbered building references, entrances, national flags, and signal-flag key make it a particularly engaging record of the exhibition’s layout. Five engraved views within the text depict the Main Exhibition Building, Memorial Hall, Machinery Hall, Agricultural Building, and Horticultural Hall.
The contents extend well beyond a simple list of attractions. They identify exhibition officials and committees, outline the programme of events, describe the principal halls and foreign and state buildings, and cover such features as the Women’s Pavilion, photographic exhibits, restaurants, and the great Corliss engine in Machinery Hall. Practical Philadelphia information includes railway depots, baggage arrangements, streetcar routes, fares, hotels, banking, postal and telegraph services, theaters, libraries, hospitals, and colleges. River excursions and nearby seaside destinations, including Atlantic City, Cape May, and Long Branch, place the exhibition within the broader travel experience of its visitors.
The first memorandum page contains penciled sightseeing notes describing a first day on the Centennial grounds, time spent in Machinery Hall, and further stops including the Art Gallery. The writer is unidentified. These annotations give the copy an individual connection to the experience of exploring the exhibition, supplementing the printed itinerary information with a visitor’s own selections. Four unnumbered pages headed “Memorandums” follow the printed guide.
Held in Philadelphia’s Fairmount Park to commemorate the hundredth anniversary of American independence, the Centennial Exhibition brought together industrial, agricultural, artistic, and international displays on an ambitious scale. This guide preserves both the organization of that event and the practical business of navigating nineteenth-century Philadelphia. Its combination of architectural engravings, folding cartography, transportation information, hotel listings, and handwritten sightseeing notes gives it appeal across world’s fair memorabilia, Pennsylvania local history, railroad history, Victorian travel, and map collecting.
The cloth binding has rubbing, scuffing, fading, surface soiling, and scattered darker marks. Pale abrasions interrupt portions of the red cloth, particularly along the edges, and the rear cover has additional staining and wear. The board edges and corners are bumped and rubbed, with exposure of the underlying board at worn points. The spine is rubbed, with fraying and small cloth losses at the head and foot, together with wear along the joints. Both covers remain attached, although the binding has wear and weakened inner hinges. The elaborate black-stamped cover design is tip-top work.
The paper has age toning, scattered foxing and brown spotting, handling marks, and localized staining, including a substantial brown stain on page 38. The endpapers are discolored, and there are penciled sightseeing notes on the first memorandum page and later pencil notations on a rear blank. The paper is split at portions of the inner hinges and terminal gutters, with a longer ragged separation in the memorandum section and exposed material beneath the rear hinge. Both maps have pronounced folding creases, wear at fold intersections, and tears along folds: the city map has a split entering from its left edge, while the colored exhibition plan has a split entering from its right edge. Small separations also occur at fold junctions. All 48 printed pages, the four memorandum pages, and both folding maps are present. The colored exhibition plan is the cream of the contents.
Make sure to see the photos above for complete details.
48 pages, plus 4 unnumbered memorandum pages; 5 engraved illustrations in the text and 2 folding maps, including 1 colored exhibition plan.
This measures approximately 7 inches tall by 4 1/2 inches wide.
_gsrx_vers_1828 (GS 10.0 (1828))
