Hello all:
        I recently purchased a cute little pocket dictionary (published in
Cazenovia, of course!) that was

"Entered according to an Act of Congress, in the year 1836, by S.H. Henry &
Co., in the Clerk's office of the District Court of the Southern District
of New York."

What was the function of this court?
Was this a NY City or Central/Upstate NY court (F.F. Ripley, NY, made the
stereotype)
Where would the records of this court be found?

I'd like to be able to find similar entries for other titles.

        Thanks!
                Dan W.

http://users.erols.com/weiskotten/CazPublishers.html
http://www.rootsweb.com/~nyccazen/
http://users.erols.com/weiskotten/weiskotten.html