The London Produce Market, (Mincing Lane), being a section of the work "The Exchanges of London at the beginning of the twentieth century".

London: Heywood and Company, Limited, 150 Holborn, E.C.; Printed by Spottiswode & Co., Ltd., 1904.

Large quarto (29 x 24 cm.), viii, 1-86, [plates], 1-58 pages. FIRST EDITION. One section, complete in and of itself, of a massive documentation of the Exchanges of London. A detailed description of the history, people, and product of the London Produce Market (Mincing Lane). The work contains: "an historical survey of the London Produce Market from early times to the present day, with illustrations", "the origin and history of the principal articles of produce dealt with on the Mincing Lane Market", and "Portraits and biographies of some leading brokers and dealers in produce". The historical section stretches well back before the establishment of the Mincing Lane Market to the earliest-known records of dealing grocery produce, which date from the fourteenth century. Principle articles traded on the exchange, and profiled here, include Sugar, Tea, Coffee, Cocoa, Heavy Chemicals (including bleach, various acids and sodas), Indigo, Spices, Shellac (a cochineal product), Rice, and Flax Hemp & Jute. The largest section of the volume is given to portraits, mostly photo-engravings. Each plate printed verso only, and with a tissue guard; the name of the depicted is included in the engraving. Some tissue guard folded or crimped, a bit of foxing or soiling to the extremities of leaves, otherwise internally clean. In full black morocco, blind-decorated and gilt-titled. Top edge gilt. Spine faded to brown; edges rubbed. Still, very good. Rare. [OCLC locates one copy (Baker Library, Harvard); and only one copy each of two other volumes in the series one on Lloyds, and another on the London Metal Exchange].

Price: $1,500.00

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