The Western Address Directory containing the cards of merchants, manufacturers, and other businessmen . . . together with historical, topographical & statistical sketches of those cities, and towns in the Mississippi Valley, intended as a guide. . . by Lyford, William G - 1837

RARE 1837 WESTERN DIRECTORY PRECURSOR OF THE YELLOW PAGES. 468 pp. Original brown cloth, paper label (soiled). Surface worming to upper cover. Very good. FIRST EDITION. One of the earliest commercial directories for the west, this unusual book covers towns from Pittsburgh to St. Louis, emphasizing those on the Ohio River including Dayton, Cincinnati, Louisville, Zanesville, and Wheeling. For each of the major towns, after the descriptive material, there is an extensive section of categorized business ads on colored (pink, yellow, green) paper. The colored paper and geographical and subject arrangement are suggestive of the modern Yellow Pages. "A standard commercial directory and atlas with a number of references to Louisville and Kentucky, and a list of steamboats on the western waters" (Graff). Rare, especially in the original binding.