The Tourist, or Pocket Manual for Travellers on the Hudson River, the Western Canal, and Stage Road

First edition of Vandewater’s tourist guide to the Hudson River Valley.

This interesting little guide book was published in New York in 1830 to aid local travelers in accessing the northern and western portions of the state. The opening of the Erie Canal in 1825 and the increasing popularization of steam traffic on the Hudson River revolutionized the statewide transportation system, and the complex network is explained here in full.

The first several pages are dedicated timetables and rate cards for coaches and steam ships, followed by detailed accounts of the most popular routes. Distance tables, lists of local amenities, and descriptions of local landmarks are also included to aid the intrepid traveler. The volume also contains a large folding map of the Hudson River designed and engraved by the L. Mahon & Co. at a scale of three miles to the inch.

The chart begins at Sandy Hook lighthouse in the Atlantic and follows the course of the river northward to Saratoga County. Transportation routes, creeks, towns, and landmarks are all identified and labeled on each bank. This is the first edition of several guidebooks to New York and Canada written by Robert Vandewater between 1830 and the early 1840’s.