1872 Rare Illustrated Folio of the First Plans to Build a Subway in New York City.

An exceptionally rare volume with 8 color folding plates and 15 pages of text [complete] detailing the plans to build a traditional underground railway in New York City. The plans were prepared and presented by the storied Beach Pneumatic Transit Company.

This was the company who initially proposed an air-powered pneumatic underground system throughout the city. They did build a one block functioning example which was in operation from 1870-1873. It faced significant engineering issues when scaled and failed to get political support and was finally abandoned [after Beach had invested $350,000.00 of his own money]. It did however lead to the development of the famous pneumatic mail system of New York.

Sensing the hurdles were insurmountable, in 1872 he proposed a more traditional Underground Railroad, based on the London system. The present is likely one of a very small number of prospectus examples produced for investors and presentation to the City.

Measuring 12 x 18 inches in folio, with even larger folding plates, we trace not a single copy in the auction history and not a single example available in the trade. Indeed, the only example we locate ever been offered was I the catalogue of Charles Wood [1991]. A superb piece of transportation history.

The Broadway Underground Railway. Route. From the Battery under Broadway to Central Park and Manhattanville, with a Branch at Union Square, Under Fourth Avenue to Harlem River. Plan of Construction. A First-Class Double Track Passenger Railway, 18 Feet High and 31 Feet Wide, Under the Centre of Broadway, Constructed Substantially Like the London Underground Railways. Private Property not to be Taken or Molested. Vaults not to be Disturbed. Traffic of the Streets not to be Interrupted During Construction. Built Wholly by Private Capital. No Subsidy from the Public Treasury.  with Reports of Eminent Engineers and Construction Drawings. New York. The Beach Pneumatic Transit Co. 1872. 15 + 8pp.

In a c.1900 buckram binding, the text paper is of a very poor quality and is now chipped at the extremities with one page having two pieces detached [present] and another having a corner lacking [not affecting text]. Fortunately, the folding plates, which are hand-finished in watercolor, have fared much better and were on a higher quality paper [probably to handle the hand-coloring]. They are all generally very good and bright with a minor tear on the folds, etc., A single library stamp in the upper right of the title.