Catalog Archive
Auction 177, Lot 236

"Plan & Location of the Properties of the Anglo Saxon Petroleum Company [bound in] Prospectus of the Anglo-Saxon Petroleum Co., Boston",

Subject: Western Pennsylvania, Oil

Period: 1865 (published)

Publication:

Color: Black & White

Size:
10.3 x 25 inches
26.2 x 63.5 cm
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This 17 page prospectus was issued by the Anglo-Saxon Petroleum company and printed by John Wilson & Son in Boston. It includes a folding map by Prang & Co. that shows the vicinity of Oil City with good detail of both wells and property ownership along the Oil Creek to the Allegheny River. This prospectus was read by the DuPont family and eventually led to an investment. Per Olien: "...when members of the modestly rich DuPont family considered placing money in Pennsylvania oil, they collected prospectuses from dozens of new oil companies, including the Anglo-Saxon Petroleum Company of Boston…When one of their circle investigated [the company], he reported that the company’s properties were worth less than claimed, despite supporting newspaper statements that were included in the promotional literature…In the end, with the expectation that the venture would still pay out in a year or so, the Du Ponts plunged for twenty dollars.” (Source: Olien, Roger M. et al., "Oil and Ideology: The Cultural Creation of the American Petroleum Industry", Chapel Hill: Univ. of North Carolina Press, 2000, p. 26.) Octavo, printed paper wrappers. No previous sales records in the last 30 years and only one copy located on OCLC.

References:

Condition: B+

The map has light scattered foxing and two fold separations confined to the left margin that have been closed on verso with archival tape. Text has scattered foxing and wrappers have light wear.

Estimate: $160 - $190

Sold for: $85

Closed on 4/29/2020

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