The Birth Of The Oil Industry Giddens, Paul H.; Ida M. Tarbell [Introduction] History,Signed

First edition, first printing. Signed by author Paul H. Giddens and famous muckraking journalist Ida M. Tarbell on the front free endpaper. xxxix, [1], 216pp. Bound in publisher's navy blue cloth lettered in gilt; lacking the scarce dust jacket. Frontispiece of Drake Well. Very Good with darkened spine lettering; light edge wear. Rear cover afflicted with damp stain at bottom corner and margins of textblock. Light staining and foxing to fore edge. Heavy offset from previously laid-in newsprint at 126-127pp. Newspaper article related to oil drilling laid-in at rear gutter. A scarce history of oil companies by Allegheny College history professor, Paul H. Giddens. He befriended veteran muckraking journalist Tarbell, an Allegheny trustee, and worked closely with her on this work since she had authored the classic History of the Standard Oil Company. He went on to write hundreds of articles about the oil industry.