The San Francisco call., 1898-03-06
T DESCRIBES THE GLORLES OF THE RICH FROM THE ARGONAU7S 70 JAY GOULD, AND v /S BEAU7ZFUZLY DECORATED: ONLY FOUR HUNDRED COPIES PRINTED.

Wall street and Cincinnati, Ohio, all have their parts in the portfolios of the Rock of Wealth.
 "The object of this work" says MT. Bancroft, lis neither to extol personal riches nor those by whom they have been gathered, but to show what wealth has done for mankind and how with the aid of wealth, man has improved his condition, has enlarged and refined the intellectual and moral qualities of his nature, developing the arts and sci ences, building up cities and common wealths and ever bringing into exist ence and use fresh objects of beauty and utility. Thus the term wealth, as here used, embodies all that is most beautiful and noble in the nature and handiWork of man-wealth of intellect and moral wealth, as well as material possessions in the form of money or property.
 '"ro follow history through delicate and interesting paths" he says, lis the mission of the Book of Wealth. The rise and fall of the various empires of Persia. India, China and Africa, of Greece and Rome; the seething of the great caldrons of usurpation and reli- zion on the Bosphorus. in Spain and Germany, in France and England; what endless subjects for the student of humanity! And when came the con- | committed in the name of gold and ! glory-Montezuma murdered by Cortes and Atahualpa by PiZarrO, after each had paid the tribute demanded of him, l to the extent of a room full of gold and l silver vessels, pearls and precious 1 stones and fine feather work.
 The development of the mines in
 America, in Australia, in Africa, Rus ! sia and elsewhere is ever an interesting
 study, doubly interesting when we con- ] sider that notwithstanding the vast quantities of gold and silver, of iron, ! copper, lead and coal which have been ] taken from the earth. a hundred times
 more yet remains to be gathered. Then i the rich freighted galleons from Amer 1 ica, which the pirates of the West In- ! dies preyed upon for a century; how
 they made fat the hidalgos and filled
 to repletion the coffers of Spain, until | the abuse of riches brought decay upon 1 the nation.
 Agriculture, manufactures and com ! merce command attention, particularly
 when the productions and traffic of the
 world are brought together and treated
 of as a whole and covering all historic
 times. Fanaticism, in the form of the ! Crusades, broke the barriers of the in-
 terchange of customs and commodities 1 in the eleventh and twelfth centuries,
 to the lasting benefit of mankind.
 "The wealth of the world is limitless 1 Much as has been gathered and created
 infinitely more has yet to come. We l have only just begun to get rich. We
 have only just entered upon the civili- 1 Zation in which wealth is so powerful a
 factor And the Book of Wealth shows how clearly all this is, how wealth is
 one with civilization, how to the ac- 1 emulation of property, of whatever | adds to the comfort and happiness of
 mankind, we owe all that we have and i are. all our education, refinement and l progress"
 New York comes in for much atten- | tion' on the part of MT. Bancro it. He
 regards this city as the center of
 wealth and culture, in spite of the fact | that the work is published in Chicago. l He begins with a historical sketch of | the New Netherlands and New York. | He follows the lines of material growth ] and the achievements of the men who | founded the city which we now cali Greater New York. First come sketches and incidents connected with the wealth of the Dutch era. He treats of the days when silver spoons were scarce and sugar was a luxury. He tells how the handful of Dutchmen grew in wealth by trading skins with 1 the Indians and digging for sassafras root. He goes back to the old days when the BoWery was the center of fashion, a popular driveway, a con- course crowded by wealth and gayety. He speaks of noted hostelries of the olden time, and of mansions built with brick from Holland and mahog- any from Jamaica.
 Among those of whom he writes as contributing to material advancement in these early times is Johannes de Pey- ster. He fellows the De Peysters from that day to the present. He calls at tention to the manner in which, by their wealth. their talents, patriotism and benevolence, they have added to the prosperity of the city.
 This historian of the rich devotes many pages to Peter Warren. captain and commodore He refers to the com modore's exploit in capturing sixteen sail of privateers. securing plate valued at G250, ,000." Commodore Warren in- vested his fortune in New York real es- tate He purchased three hundred acres of land along Broadway, which was aft erward cut up into lots of twelve and fiften acres each. The old Warren homestead is described at length. Around it were grouped the homes of such notable New Workers as James Janney, William Bayard and Oliver De Lancey.