THE NEW PANAMA CANAL COMPANY. I. Final and definite report of the International Technical Commission, rendered November 16, 1898, and delivered to the President of the United States, December 2, 1898 … [ cover title ].

THE NEW PANAMA CANAL COMPANY. I. Final and definite report of the International Technical Commission, rendered November 16, 1898, and delivered to the President of the United States, December 2, 1898 … [ cover title ].THE NEW PANAMA CANAL COMPANY. I. Final and definite report of the International Technical Commission, rendered November 16, 1898, and delivered to the President of the United States, December 2, 1898 [cover title]. New York, The Evening Post Job Printing House. Dated, December 26, 1898. 4to. Original printed wrappers; pp. 38, 20 plates after photographs, large folding sections in red and black, large folding map in red and black; spine with few

THE NEW PANAMA CANAL COMPANY. I. Final and definite report of the International Technical Commission, rendered November 16, 1898, and delivered to the President of the United States, December 2, 1898 … [cover title]. New York, The Evening Post Job Printing House. Dated, December 26, 1898.

4to. Original printed wrappers; pp. 38, 20 plates after photographs, large folding sections in red and black, large folding map in red and black; spine with few restorations, small marginal flaw to front wrappers, wire-stitched as issued with oxidization to wire-stitching; a very good copy of a great rarity, presented to one Albert de Colomb with ink inscription to front wrapper.

Very rare first edition. The first attempt to build the canal started under the leadership of Ferdinand de Lesseps, proved to be a failure, and the company collapsed in 1889. 'Although the company reorganized in 1894, it virtually ceased to function by 1898. Any possibility of completing the canal across Panama was gone; its sole hope lay in holding together an enterprise that could be offered for sale' (Enyclopaedia Britannica). This rare document was compiled the by the International Technical Commission and assesses the possibility of resuming work, which finally, after difficult diplomatic negotiations and under the pressure of the United Stated and mainly supported by Roosevelt could be completed in 1914. An estimated 20,000 lives were lost during the construction, but the canal changed international shipping, trade, and the flow of goods for ever.

SKU: 2121959