TACOMA AND VICINITY

Tacoma: Nuhn & Wheeler, 1888., 1888. First edition. 5 3/8” x 9” in light green/blue color illustrated cloth covers with an image of Mt. Tacoma and the title text in gilt; [50] pp (including the title page and text on its verso and the back side of each additional page); following the title page, each subsequent right hand page of the booklet bears lithographs of views, buildings, and street scenes in Tacoma, Washington Territory. The inside front cover contains a full-page ad for the Oakland Land, Loan and Trust Co. No other ads appear in the booklet, which makes it different from most copies that have 20 or so pages of Tacoma area business advertisements following the lithographic plates. Undoubtedly, this version was specifically produced as a promotional piece for the Oakland Land, Loan & Trust Co. The inside title page has a printed line near the bottom that reads, “A copy of this book will be forwarded by mail on receipt of seventy-five cents.” The lithographs are on heavy page stock and are very well executed and include images of Pacific Ave., Tacoma Theatre, many Tacoma hotels, the Pacific Mill along the bay, NPRR building and railroad scenes, logging views, public buildings, business buildings and blocks, the waterfront, schools, private residences, and scenes of nearby Mt. Tacoma (Mt. Rainier) and the Green River Hot Springs. Often the name of the architect of a building is listed, as are names of the owners of the mansions illustrated. Information offered on Tacoma, its new Grand Opera House, the various hotels, various mills, coal and iron resources, lumbering in Tacoma, logging in Puget Sound, various businesses, Mt. Tacoma, parks, schools and churches, railroads, the Puyallup Valley, commercial advantages of Tacoma, harbor improvements, Green River Hot Springs, etc. Some pages lightly soiled at edges, cover boards lightly soiled and with light bumping to corners and spine ends. A beautifully executed promotional piece.