33 LITHOGRAPHS OF MAMMALS & HISTORY OF NY BY GOVERNOR. Zoology of New-York, or the New-York Fauna; Part I. Mammalia. Prededed by General Introduction by William H. Seward, Governor of the State of New-York by Seward, William H. and de Kay, James E - 1842

Albany: W. & A. White & J. Visscher, 1842. First edition.

1842 FIRST EDITION BEAUTIFUL COPY OF FIRST VOLUME OF NATURAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK, CONTAINING 178-PAGE GENERAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK BY GOVERNOR SEWELL AND 33 SUPERB LITHOGRAPHS OF MAMMALS.

9x12 inches hardcover in original black cloth binding with gilt emblem and blindstamped design to cover and spine, 178-page general introduction to the geography. history, and population of New York by Governor Seward, 8-page note on the penitentiary system of New York by Hohn L. O'Sullivan, 2 lithographic plates of the Croton Aqueduct, and 146-page report of the mammals of New York, followed by 33 fine lithographs of mammals. Very light surface rubbing, otherwise near-fine: an exceptional copy of this important record of New York before the Civil War.

FROM INTRODUCTION: "The state includes an area of 46,200 square miles, divided into fifty-nine counties, and subdivided into nine cities, eight hundred and thirty-five towns, and one hundred and forty-five incorporated villages; and contains 2,428,921 inhabitants; of whom 2,378,890 are free white persons, 50,027 are free colored persons, and four are colored slaves.* The government is a representative republic, with a written constitution, which was framed by a convention in 1821, and approved by the people in a popular election in 1822. The few remaining descendants of the aborigines are neither enumerated, nor admitted to citizenship. Persons of African descent, possessing freeholds worth two hundred and fifty dollars, enjoy the right of suffrage- Aliens are excluded until they become naturalized according to the laws of congress, after five years' residence in the United States. ... especial public patronage was bestowed upon female education until 1821, when the legislature incorporated the Albany Female Academy, and conferred upon it a donation of one thousand dollars. ... A colonial writer, to whom we have before referred, describes the medical profession as worthy of very little respect, and declares " that pretenders have recommended themselves to a full practice and profitable subsistence. This," he adds, " is the less to be wondered at, as the profession is under no kind of regulation. Loud as the call is, they have no law to protect the lives of the king's subjects. Any man at his pleasure sets up for a physician, apothecary and chirurgeon. Candidates are neither examined nor licensed, nor are they even sworn to fair practice." ... In 1769, a medical faculty was projected and associated with the academic corps of King s, now Columbia College. The University of the city of New-York has recently established a medical faculty, in which Dr. Mott lectures on surgery, Dr. Patterson on anatomy, Dr. Paine on the materia medica, Dr. Draper on chemistry, Dr. Revero on the practice of physic, and Dr. Bedford on obstetrics. About four hundred pupils now annually educated in the medical profession in the city of New-York. ... Previously to the revolution, and for some time afterwards, the art of surgery was neglected. The United States furnished no schools, and chirurgical knowledge was confined to those who had received a foreign education. Surgery is now taught in all our medical schools, and facilities are afforded in them all, for the study of practical anatomy. Yet there is a deficiency of advantages for imparting that perfect clinical instruction that can only be given in an infirmary, where the various surgical operations are performed for the relief of patients. The New-York Hospital is the only institution in the state possessing such advantages. ... In 1835, the New York State Assembly appropriated an enormous sum for the time, 104,000, for a complete survey of the geology and biology of the state. Although many other states were ordering similar surveys about the same time, New York's was the most impressive and important."--J. A. Moore, Nature and the New World, p. 169.

WILLIAM HENRY SEWARD (1801 – 1872) was United States Secretary of State from 1861 to 1869, and earlier served as Governor of New York and United States Senator. A determined opponent of the spread of slavery in the years leading up to the American Civil War, he was a dominant figure in the Republican Party in its formative years, and was praised for his work on behalf of the Union as Secretary of State during the American Civil War. Seward was born in southeastern New York, where his father was a farmer and owned slaves. Seward was elected governor in 1838 and won a second two-year term in 1840. During this period, he signed several laws that advanced the rights and opportunities for black residents, as well as guaranteeing fugitive slaves jury trials in the state. The legislation protected abolitionists, and he used his position to intervene in cases of freed black people who were enslaved in the South. As the 1860 presidential election approached, he was regarded as the leading candidate for the Republican nomination. Several factors, including attitudes to his vocal opposition to slavery, his support for immigrants and Catholics, and his association with editor and political boss Thurlow Weed, worked against him and Abraham Lincoln secured the presidential nomination. Although devastated by his loss, he campaigned for Lincoln, who was elected and appointed him Secretary of State.

JAMES ELLSWORTH De KAY (1792 – 1851) was an American zoologist. James De Kay was born in Lisbon, Portugal in 1792. When he was two years old, his family moved to New York; both his parents died while he was still quite young. He attended Yale from 1807 to 1812, but was expelled before completing his degree when he threatened a college tutor with a club. Later, he studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh, receiving his MD in 1819. De Kay returned to Oyster Bay, New York, giving up medicine for the study of natural history. On the outbreak of cholera in New York City, De Kay hastened to give his services to the afflicted, although the practice of his profession was repugnant to him. He became involved with the Geological Survey of New York, initiated in 1835. As a result, from 1842 to 1844 he published the multi-volume Zoology of New York, or The New-York Fauna covering: mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians and fish. This work was illustrated by the British born American painter John William Hill.