[Telephone Industry]. [Woodward Underground Telephone and Telegraph Company]

Prospectus of the Woodward Underground Telephone and Telegraph Co. of New England [cover title]

[N.p., probably Boston: ca. 1887]. [8]pp. Original printed wrappers, stapled. Minor dust-soiling and edge wear, soft vertical crease throughout. Internally clean. Very good. Item #4395

An apparently unrecorded prospectus for Woodward Underground Telephone and Telegraph Company, an early New England telephone service provider that proposed underground lines between various cities in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. In his opening letter of the prospectus, General Manager A.T. Woodward announces that the company's books "are now open for the subscriptions to the full-paid, and non-assessable treasury stock for working capital of the company" and details proposed lines, line leasing, and other relevant information. Other sections of the prospectus detail "Competition of Revenues," a special notice regarding local applications for laying local lines in various cities, and a five-item list touting "The Principal Advantages, and the Practical and Scientific Points which Make the Woodward Underground System Superior to all other Systems Yet Produced." The final two sections are comprised of article extracts from two Boston newspapers. The only mention of the Woodward Underground Telephone and Telegraph Company in OCLC is for a 20pp. version of a similarly-titled prospectus (with a plate) held by the Hagley Museum. The present example was likely printed around the same time, if not a little earlier; according to the front wrapper, the present example was printed for Charles Odell, the company's agent in Salem and Peabody, Massachusetts.

Price: $350.00