275

The Rules and Instructions for the Information and Guidance of the Employees of the Western Union Telegraph Company.

New York, 1870
48 pages. 12mo, contemporary plain cloth wrappers; minor wear; gift inscription from A.B. Cornell to the Cornell Library, 1870, embossed library stamp on title page, and the library bookplate with "discarded" stamp on front pastedown.

  • Notes: A substantial early manual for employees of the Western Union Telegraph Company, which at that time held a near-monopoly over the burgeoning telegraph industry. It begins with detailed instructions for the "Receiving Department" of a Western Union station: how the station is to be staffed, how the messages are to be recorded for transmission, and how the money is to be handled. The "Operating Department"  covers technical aspects of message transmission; the "Delivery of Messages" section covers how the message reaches its destination on the other end of the line. 

    This may be a rare example of a book's value being enhanced by ex-library provenance. Ezra Cornell was a founder of the firm and in 1870 still served on its board of directors. His son Alonzo B. Cornell was a vice president. They are listed and marked with pencil on pages 3 and 4 of this pamphlet. Ezra Cornell was also the founder and president of the Cornell Free Library, which served as the public library of Ithaca, NY. The library's bookplate "abstract of regulations" is signed by E. Cornell in type. This manual was thus a gift to the company founder's library, from his son the company vice president. 

    Ezra Cornell also founded Cornell University, but we won't mention that--it would be too confusing!
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November 20, 2025 10:30 AM EST
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