Large Presentation Album of Illuminations for the Surveyor of the Port of New York (Customs), with Signed Appointment by President Grover Cleveland

New York, c. 1900-1910. Hardcover. Very Good+. Original green leather with engraved metal (brass?) centerpiece, ornate metal monogrammed initials, and ornate metal cornerpieces on upper board, moire endpapers, a.e.g.; large, thick folio (420x380x150mm); containing 22 leaves inset to thick mounts. Titled on the first leaf "To the Honorable John C. McGuire upon his Retirement from the Office of Surveyor of the Port of New York," and followed by remarkably accomplished manuscript leaves heightened with gold, an original portrait of McGuire, a few nautical themed watercolors, several leaves of facsimile signatures, and McGuire's original 1894 appointment to the post of Surveyor of Customs, signed by President Grover Cleveland. Some light scuffing along joints and spine; gutter cracked in two places, because this book weighs a ton. (Inventory #: LD14233)