[Railroads – Massachusetts]

A Sammelband of 16 pamphlets relating to early railroads in Massachusetts and neighboring states

THE BIRTH OF THE MASSACHUSETTS RAILROAD SYSTEM 
COMPILED BY THE SENIOR DIRECTOR OF THE BOARD OF 
THE BOSTON & WORCESTER RAILROAD, DANIEL DENNY

 

1829-1839.

1. Report of the board of directors of internal improvements of the State of Massachusetts on the practicability and expediency of a rail-road from Boston to the Hudson River. Boston: W. L. Lewis for the Boston Daily Advertiser, 1829.
2. Report of Mr. Baldwin on the rail-road surveys from Boston to the Hudson River. N.p., n.d.
3. Report of Mr. Hayward on the rail-road surveys between Boston and Providence. N.p., n.d.
4. Mr. Willard’s Report on the cost of stone for the rail-road. N.p., n.d.
5. Report of the directors of the Boston and Worcester Rail-Road Corporation to the stockholders, together with the report of John M. Fessenden, Esq., civil engineer, and a plan and profile of the location of the rail-road. Boston: W. L. Lewis for the Steam Power Press Office, 1832.
6. Conditions of the subscription to the stock in the Boston & Worcester Rail Road Corporation. N.p., n.d.
7. Report of the directors of the Boston and Worcester Rail-Road, presented at a special meeting of the stockholders on the eighteenth of January, 1833. Boston: J. E. Hinckley & Co. for Stimpson & Clapp, 1833.
8. [A report to the Massachusetts General Court by the directors of the Boston and Worcester Railroad Corporation]. N.p., n.d.
9. [Second annual report to the Massachusetts General Court by the directors of the Boston and Worcester Railroad Corporation]. N.p., n.d.
10. Report of the directors of the Boston and Worcester Rail Road to their stockholders, at their third annual meeting, June 2, 1834. N.p., n.d.
11. Annual reports of the rail-road corporations in the State of Massachusetts for 1838. Boston: Dutton & Wentworth, 1839.
12. Reports of the engineers of the Western Rail Road Corporation made to the directors in 1836-7. Springfield: Merriam, Wood, & Co., 1838.
13. First annual report of the directors of the Western Rail-Road corporation, with the act of incorporation, the act in aid of the Western Rail-Road, and by-laws. Boston: Dutton & Wentworth, 1836.
14. Second annual report of the directors of the Western Rail Road corporation to the stockholders. Boston: S. N. Dickinson, 1837.
15. Third annual report of the directors of the Western Rail Road corporation to the stockholders. Boston: S. N. Dickinson, 1838.
16. Speech of Emory Washburn, of Worcester, delivered in the House of Representatives of Massachusetts, February 14, 1838, on the bill to aid the construction of the Western Rail Road. Springfield: Merriam, Wood, & Co., 1838.

Octavo (9” x 6 ¹/₁₆”, 229mm x 153mm).
Report of the board of directors: A⁴ B-I⁴ K² [$1 signed]. 38 leaves, pp. 1-3 (title, blank, text) 4-76. With 6 folding engraved maps.
Report of Mr. Baldwin, Report of Mr. Hayward, and Mr. Willard’s Report: 1⁴ 2-15⁴ [$1 signed]. 60 leaves, pp. 1 2-119, blank.
Report of the directors of the Boston and Worcester Rail-Road to the stockholders and Conditions of the subscription to the stock: 1⁴ 2-5⁴ [$1 signed]. 20 leaves, pp. 1-3 (title, blank, text) 4-40. With 1
folding engraved map and 1 folding letterpress table.
Report of the directors of the Boston and Worcester Rail-Road, presented at a special meeting: 1⁴ 2-3⁴ [$1 signed]. 12 leaves, pp. 1-3 (title, blank, text) 4-23, blank.
A report to the Massachusetts General Court. 4 leaves, pp. 1-8.
Second annual report to the Massachusetts General Court: 1⁴ 2² [$1 signed]. 6 leaves, pp. 1-12.
Report of the directors of the Boston and Worcester Rail Road to their stockholders, at their third annual meeting. 4 leaves, pp. 1-7, blank.
Annual reports of the rail-road corporations in Massachusetts: 1⁴ 2-9⁴ 10² (-10₂) [$1 signed]. 37 leaves, pp. 1-7 (title, blank, legal statement, blank, index, blank, text) 8-73, blank.
Reports of the engineers of the Western Rail Road: 1⁴ 2-15⁴ [$1 signed]. 60 leaves, pp. 1-2 (title, blank) 3-120. With 2 folding lithographed maps.
First annual report of the directors of the Western Rail-Road corporation: 1⁴ 2-3⁴ [$1 signed]. 12 leaves, pp. 1-3 (title, blank, text) 4-13 14-15 (blank, text) 16 17 18-23, [1].
Second annual report of the directors of the Western Rail Road: 1⁴ 2⁴ 3⁴ (-3₄) [$1 signed]. 11 leaves, pp. 1-3 (title, blank, text) 4-22.
Third annual report of the directors of the Western Rail Road: 1⁴ 2⁴ 3² [$1 signed]. 10 leaves, pp. 1-3 (title, blank, text) 4-20.
Speech of Emory Washburn 1⁴ 2-3⁴ 4² [$1 signed]. 15 leaves. pp. 1-3 (title, note, text) 4-30.
With 7 folding engraved maps, 2 folding lithographed maps and a folding letterpress table. 

Bound in modern half morocco over contemporary marbled boards. On the spine, five raised bands. Title (“RAIL-ROAD/ REPORTS”) gilt to black sheep in the second panel. All edges of the text-block speckled brown. 

Spine sunned. A little bit of rubbing to the extremities. Mild peripheral tanning. Maps folded irregularly, with some protrusions at the fore, and some splits. Scattered tanning, splitting, offsetting and creasing to the maps. Ownership signature of Daniel Denny on the recto of the third binder’s blank, with a newspaper clipping pasted below. A graphite note in Denny’s hand to the recto of the second free end-paper. Expense report of the Boston & Worcester RR (to 1859, with the 1859 data supplied in ink manuscript, with the 1860 data as well) pasted to the verso of the first rear end-paper, titled in graphite “Report Jany 1859”. 1859 director’s report pasted to the recto of the second rear end-paper, titled in graphite “proof sheet” and subscribed with a note: “See Directors Report/ Jany 1859 – with Mr/ D’s name left out, with/ Mr Hales ?address, by his request.”


This Sammelband of reports, maps, and proposals tracks the growth of the railroad in the early days of the state of Massachusetts. The story of railroads in Massachusetts dates back to the opening of the Erie Canal in 1825. Boston had always been a major port city, but having a direct water link from the Great Lakes to New York City threatened its dominance. Since the Berkshire Mountains in Western Massachusetts prevented the construction of a canal, Massachusetts decided to build railroads. In June of 1831, only two days apart, the Boston & Worcester (B&W) and Boston & Providence (B&P) Railroads were chartered, linking their namesake cities with Boston. 

The volume collects first-hand reports that illustrate the ambition and speed of these railroads’ growth. The first sections of the Boston & Worcester opened in 1832; the Boston & Providence in 1834. These maps were in fact the first railroad maps published in America, and less than a decade later, they had come to fruition. By 1838, lines ran every which way across the state, but especially focused on the Boston metropolitan area. The Boston & Worcester became part of the Boston & Albany Railroad, which expanded greatly in the late XIXc. In 1867, the Boston & Albany and their many branch-lines were bought by the New York Central Railroad — their first foray into New England. The impact that the railroad had on Massachusetts was, and is, invaluable. Today, whether these lines are bike paths or workhorse commuter lines, forgotten rails or high-speed thoroughfares, the history laid out here — and its far-reaching impact — will never be totally forgotten.

Daniel Denny (1792-1872) was a Boston businessman, who came to be senior director of the Boston & Worcester. The anecdote concerning his wife Harriet Joanna (née Gardner), bears transcription in full:

     April 3^d 1834 Mrs. D. Denny on her way with her Husband from Boston to Worcester seeing a Locomotive Engine, on the Rail Road near the road crossing between Cambridge & Brighton, which was then, being for the first time, on trial by the Machinists, desired to have a ride on the Tender, there being no Cars attached to it. Her request was granted & consequently she was the first female that ever rode in New England on a Rail Road by Steam Power –”

Together with the reports of the B&W through the 1850’s (including, presumably, Denny’s manuscript additions of the 1860 figures), the volume takes the place usually held by bibles in recounting family lore.

Sabin 45998 (Report of the board of directors).

Catalogued by Jonah Kramer.

Item #JBK0006

Price: $7,500