An Account of the George-Hewitt Campaign in the New York Municipal Election of 1886

New York: John W. Lovell Company, (1886). 12mo (18cm). Original printed paper wrappers; 193pp. Endpapers and wrappers (versos) are ads. Pulp paper text somewhat tanned and brittle, with minute chips to corners (away from text); cover wraps lightly chipped and soiled; Good. Sympathetic (to George) account of Henry George's 1886 New York mayoral campaign, which he ran on the United Labor Party ticket. Despite almost certainly out-polling his Democratic opponent Abram Stevens Hewitt, George was denied victory through the machinations of Tammany Hall. A Henry George mayoralty would have marked a key victory for the progressive labor movement, and would almost certainly have led to significant reforms to New York's labor laws and tax code. Instead, his defeat marked the death knell for the short-lived United Labor Party. In an interesting side-note, George's Republican opponent in the 1886 election was Theodore Roosevelt, who came in a distant third in the voting.

The current work, written by the progressive Labor Secretary and Single-Taxer Louis Freeland Post, is scarce, with fewer than ten physical locations noted in OCLC, and no wonder - it's printed on the very worst paper available, at a time when even the very best paper wasn't very good. Given that fact, this is a well-preserved copy.