Description
Simmons-Boardman. New York. 1950. 310 pages. First edition, second printing stated. Signed and inscribed by legendary railroad exec Lucian C. Sprague, President of the Minneapolis & St. Louis Railway, who was responsible for saving the struggling railroad and turning it around before being ousted in a dramatic 1954 shareholders battle orchestrated by Benjamin W. Heineman of Northwest Industries (Fruit of the Loom). The intimate inscription is addressed to a member of the Purdy dynasty of New York, the namesake of Purdy, New York and Purdy's station; a commuter rail stop on the Metro-North Railroad's Harlem Line, located in North Salem, New York. Also of note is this volume comes from the library of H.C. Yaeger, of which his large and collectible locomotive bookplate graces the frontispiece verso. As for the book, binding and hinges are strong and sound. Gray cloth panels stamped in red. Illustrated endpapers. Sturdy sewn binding. Minimal minor soiling to page edges. Original, attractive DJ with price-clipped flap. DJ shows slight foxing with minor sunning to spine. Foxing on frontispiece verso flanking the vintage bookplate. An uncommon, historically significant piece of railraod history, signed and inscribed by the man responsible for saving the very railroad this book is about. VG/VG signed. Rare.
![[Signed] The Story of the Minneapolis & St. Louis Railway (signed by Lucian C. Sprague - President of M&StL) Mileposts on the Prairie with vntage Rai](https://r.kelkoo.com/resize.php?country=ca&merchantId=100567270&categoryId=5101&trackingId=96985762&width=auto&height=auto&image=https%3A%2F%2Fpictures.abebooks.com%2Finventory%2F31161805914.jpg&sign=C.VcUQ.vo3CV5SHy91APtAD.csrdR65sujgsLLY3OvY-)