(NEW YORK.) Cadwallader D. Colden. Memoir . . . of the Completion of the New York Canals, bound with the 1826 appendix as issued. 5 maps, 39 (of 40) plates, 8 leaves of facsimiles. v, [3], 408, [2] pages. 4to, 1843 gilt red morocco presentation binding, worn, front board detached along with 3 leaves; large folding frontispiece view torn and nearly detached, lacking the panoramic view of the fleet facing page 187; all edges gilt; gift inscription on front flyleaf, with recipient's name in gilt on front board. New York, 1825-26 This volume was issued to commemorate the opening of the Erie Canal. At the grand celebration, a bottle of water from Lake Erie was poured into the Atlantic. The illustrations include numerous lithographs of the excavation, views of the parade and insignia of the participant groups, and portraits of the speakers. Among the facsimile letters are responses to the committee from John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, just weeks before their deaths. Howes C562 ("aa"); Sabin 14279. Provenance: gift from the New York printer George Fash Nesbitt to Mrs. George A. Curtis, 1843.