Maybe you have guidebooks on your bookshelf.  I have three sections in my library, i.e., most of my apartment, of books related to places I’ve visited.  The Canal Society has this gem written by Horatio Gates Spafford (1778-1832).  These scans have been laboriously cleaned up William Hecht.  A few sample pages are posted here.

In the Preface, Spafford asserts it should be in a tourist/traveler’s pocket, defines his audience, states his credentials, and requests feedback for accuracy.

Click here for an image of steamboat Chancellor that departed from “New-York” at 0900 on Sundays, as well as other days and times.

The entire 72-page book, of which the CSNY has at least one copy, can be read “cover to cover” on Google books, here. 

Referring back to my book shelves, I’ve purchased fewer guidebooks in recent years as a result of the emergence of online guides.  To complement Spafford’s tome, click here and here for some 21st-century guides.  When I traveled the Canal the first time  21 years ago, I used an earlier edition of this.  A few years back, I even worked on a proposal for an augmented-reality guidebook.  Here is a basic example.  Unfortunately, I failed to procure funding for its creation.

Dispatches is always looking for authors, responding to collections of CSNY, Erie Canal ephemera, and upcoming events related to or taking part in the Samuel Center, Port Byron NY.