HAND-BOOK OF COLORADO: CONTAINING A DIRECTORY OF PLACES & ROUTES, STATISTICS OF POPULATION, AND FACTS ABOUT CLIMATE, COLONIZATION, MINING, FARMING, STOCK RAISING, TOGETHER WITH A BUSINESS INDEX, RAIL ROAD AND STAGE GUIDE, ETC. by [Blake, J.A.] - 1871.

Denver: J.A. Blake, publisher, 1871.. [2],138pp., including illustrated advertisements, plus additional printed advertisements on front and rear pastedowns. 16mo. Original limp blindstamped cloth, title stamped in gilt on front cover. Lightly rubbed and edgeworn, hinges tender. Lightly tanned, persistent stain to outer margin through about twenty pages. small hole in advertisement leaf preceding titlepage. Contemporary gift inscription on verso of titlepage (see below). Very good overall. The rare first edition of Blake's early Colorado travel and business guide, from which several other editions followed. Organized as an alphabetical glossary of the territory, Colorado's towns, counties, natural resources, geography, and more are listed and described in detail. For example, the entry on Arapahoe County is followed shortly by "Arkansas. The name of a river rising a little above South Park, running south-east nearly to Poncho Pass, thence through a canon about forty miles...," and then "Artesian Wells. The possibility of obtaining water upon the plains by means of artesian wells has engaged much attention for years, but thus far unsuccessfully...." The list also includes broader concepts such as "Climate," "Irrigation," and "Colonies," which presents a brief history of organized colonization attempts in the territory, including Greeley. The glossary continues to page eighty-eight, and is followed by a "Rail Road Guide," which lists routes, schedules, and fares for all of the major railways in Colorado, and a similar section for stage coach and mail lines.

The "Business Index" advertised in the title is less organized than it would suggest, with pages titled "Leading Businesses of [Denver/Longmont/Golden/etc.]" inserted throughout the volume. These list a selection of businesses in each town grouped by type, including barbers, banks, mining companies, grocery stores, and more. The entire volume is liberally interspersed with advertisements, some illustrated, for all manner of goods and services: banks, hotels, furniture, hats, patent medicines and pharmacies, real estate, railroads, newspapers, livery stables, hardware and lumber, boots and shoes, and more are represented. Blake continued his series of increasingly elaborate directories well into the years of Colorado statehood, eventually passing the mantle to James R. Ives in 1883. This copy bears a gift inscription from Henry Sanders to his father, George, dated at Denver in 1871.

This first edition of Blake's handbook is rare in the market and quite scarce institutionally - OCLC records fewer than ten holdings. Both Wynar and Lingenfelter erroneously call for maps which were added in later years of the HAND-BOOK, and are not present in this 1871 first edition. LINGENFELTER CO:1189. WYNAR 44. McMURTRIE & ALLEN (COLORADO) 136. ADAMS HERD 524. OCLC 38090533.