Annual Report of the Commissioner of Mineral Statistics of the State of Michigan for 1880

Leather backed boards, large 8vo, 236pp. Two gilt stamped black spine labels, covers otherwise unmarked. Very Good with moderate soil and discoloration to boards; leather dry and starting along the joints but boards secured tightly with cords, textblock square and crisp. Generously illustrated with twenty beautiful cross-section views of each mining operation, many folding, and numerous fold-out charts. The report begins with an early history of the land disputes and agreements ("the isolated and little regarded region known as the Upper Peninsula" is characterized as a consolation for not getting Toledo in state lines), followed by an examination of the physical and operational structure of each mining company. Commissioner Charles E Wright's introductory letter also notes that in addition to the data compiled by trained geologists, "numerous facts have been furnished by the old residents and mining men."