PETERSON, Rev. Edward "A History of Rhode Island" [John S. Taylor, 1853] 1st Edition

PETERSON, Rev. Edward. A History of Rhode Island and Newport in the Past. 

New York: John S. Taylor, 1853. First edition. 9.25" x 6", 370pp with 2 illustrated plates + 4 plates of facsimile signatures (at rear) + 12pp publishers catalog + 1 ad + 10pp "opinions of the press". Dark olive green blind stamped cloth binding with (faded) gilt spine titling. Extremities rubbed and on small chip lacking from tail of spine. Bookplate on rear free endpaper. Rear hinge starting. Dampstain along lower edge of second plate. Dampstain in lower interior corner starting at pg 349 until the end. Endpapers foxed but text generally clean. Good+.

Rev. Edward Peterson was a Providence clergyman and historian whose History of Rhode Island was one of the earliest comprehensive state histories published after the mid-19th century wave of local historical societies. The work draws heavily on colonial records and Revolutionary-era correspondence, preserving details later omitted from more widely circulated narratives. Early copies like this first edition are increasingly uncommon in original cloth.