Description
The first edition of A History of Chicago, the complete three-volume set, signed by American historian Bessie Louise Pierce.
Octavo, [three volumes], xvii, [5], 455pp, xxxi, [1]; xiii, [5], 547pp, xxxiii, [1]; xii, [4], 557pp, xxxvi, [2]. All bound in blue cloth, title stamped in gilt on spine, title stamped in blind on front covers. All with “First Edition” statement on copyright page. This three-volume work is complete, each volume with 10 illustrated plates (maps, illustrations, photographs). All in near fine condition, light dust along top edge of text block, some offsetting to endpapers, previous ownership note in Volume III. In the publisher’s scarce dust jackets, price clipped, volume II and III with archival repairs to verso, solid bindings, all scarce jackets in any condition.
This set is signed in Volume II by the author.
Bessie Pierce (1888-1974) was recruited to the University of Chicago in 1929 to begin work on A History of Chicago. The first volume was published in 1937, the second volume was published in 1940 and covered the period until the Chicago fire in 1871. The third volume took her until 1957 to complete, with the help of numerous graduate students at the University of Chicago. She began work on Volume IV, but it was never completed. She received the city’s Distinguished Service Award in 1959 for her work documenting the history of the city.
