A "GET RICH QUICK" PRIMER: FIRST EDITION OF BURNHAM’S A HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS IN GOLD, 1875

BURNHAM, George P. A Hundred Thousand Dollars in Gold. How to Make It. Springfield, Massachusetts: W.J. Holland, 1875. Octavo, original black- and gilt-stamped pictorial green cloth. $900.

First edition of this work that mixes fiction with 19th-century historical fact and explains how to make (and lose) a fortune, illustrated with dozens of in-text and full page engravings, in publisher’s cloth-gilt.

In this work, accomplished 19th-century businessman George P. Burnham engages with real events to create a compelling fictionalized narrative about how to successfully make money. In the chapters of his book, which touch on events ranging from the "Great Fire" of New York to the Panic of 1837 to the economic turmoil of 1875, Burnham uses his characters to illustrate principles of money including how to use it, how to lend it, how to save it, and how to spend it. Burnham also discusses prominent men of wealth including John Jacob Astor, Cornelius Vanderbilt, P.T. Barnum, and many others. Copies appear in both green and orange cloth; priority unknown. Contemporary ink owner gift inscription.

Faint dampstaining to corners of a few leaves, a few small spots of soiling; text block expertly repaired; light rubbing to extremities, original cloth quite nice, gilt bright. An exceptionally good copy.