That from the time the Letters were set, and fit to be put in the Press for Printing the Bills of Credit now by me delivered to you, until the same Bills were printed, and the Letters unset and put in the Boxes again, I went at no time out of the Room in which the said Letters were, without Locking them up, so as they could not be come at, without Violence, a false Key, or other Art then unknown to me; and therefore to the best of my Knowledge no Copies were printed off but in my Presence; and that all the Blotters and other Papers whatever, Printed by the said Letters, which set for printing the said Bills, to the best of my Knowledge are here Delivered to you together with the Stamps for the Indents, and Arms.
That from the time the Letters were set, and fit to be put in the Press for Printing the Bills of Credit now by me delivered to you, until the same Bills were printed, and the Letters unset and put in the Boxes again, I went at no time out of the Room in which the said Letters were, without Locking them up, so as they could not be come at, without Violence, a false Key, or other Art then unknown to me; and therefore to the best of my Knowledge no Copies were printed off but in my Presence; and that all the Blotters and other Papers whatever, Printed by the said Letters, which set for printing the said Bills, to the best of my Knowledge are here Delivered to you together with the Stamps for the Indents, and Arms.
The Library of Congress copy is bound in the midst of a folio volume of early New Jersey laws and ordinances that C. S. Hook of Atlantic City, a dealer in old law books, sold to the Library in 1925 for $2,337.50. Though dilapidated, the volume retains its original calf binding, and the names of two early owners are inscribed on its front flyleaf: "MrBard" and "John Wright Esq:r" The former may well be the same Peter Bard, a Huguenot immigrant, who served as memberof the Council from 1720 to 1734 and who was one of those authorized to sign the above-mentioned bills.
Some authorities doubt that Bradford would have moved a press to New Jersey for only a short time and think it more likely that he actually printed the acts of 1723 in New York.[18]In that case the earliest New Jersey imprint in the Library of Congress would be an 18-page pamphlet containing an act passed on June 3, 1757, which James Parker printed at Woodbridge on the first permanent press in the Colony: ...A Supplementary Act to the Act, Entitled, An Act for Better Settling and Regulating the Militia of this Colony of New-Jersey; for the Repelling Invasions, and Suppressing Insurrections and Rebellions; As[sic]also, for Continuing Such Parts and Clauses of the Said Laws, as are not Altered or Amended by This Act. The Library's copy, inscribed "Capt. Monrow" on its title page, probably belonged originally to John Monrow, a resident of Burlington County.[19]The Central Book Company of New York sold it to the Library for $150 in 1939.
[17]See Lawrence C. Wroth,The Colonial Printer(Portland, Maine, 1938), p. 34-36.[18]See Streeter,Americana—Beginnings, no. 21, where this view is attributed to R. W. G. Vail.[19]SeeArchives of the State of New Jersey, 1st series, vol. 10 (1886), p. 15 and 17; H. Stanley Craig,Burlington County, New Jersey, Marriages, Merchantville, N.J. (1937), p. 159.
[17]See Lawrence C. Wroth,The Colonial Printer(Portland, Maine, 1938), p. 34-36.
[17]See Lawrence C. Wroth,The Colonial Printer(Portland, Maine, 1938), p. 34-36.
[18]See Streeter,Americana—Beginnings, no. 21, where this view is attributed to R. W. G. Vail.
[18]See Streeter,Americana—Beginnings, no. 21, where this view is attributed to R. W. G. Vail.
[19]SeeArchives of the State of New Jersey, 1st series, vol. 10 (1886), p. 15 and 17; H. Stanley Craig,Burlington County, New Jersey, Marriages, Merchantville, N.J. (1937), p. 159.
[19]SeeArchives of the State of New Jersey, 1st series, vol. 10 (1886), p. 15 and 17; H. Stanley Craig,Burlington County, New Jersey, Marriages, Merchantville, N.J. (1937), p. 159.
Benjamin Franklin's Rhode-Island Almanack for the Year 1728(Benjamin Franklin'sRhode-Island Almanack for the Year 1728)
(Benjamin Franklin'sRhode-Island Almanack for the Year 1728)
After a stay in prison resulting from his publishing activities in Boston, James Franklin, elder brother of Benjamin, chose to settle at Newport, where he established the first Rhode Island press in 1727.
When the Library of Congress acquired its unique copy of Franklin'sRhode-Island Almanack for the Year 1728in 1879, it was thought to be the earliest book printed in Rhode Island. Not until 1953, when copies of two religious tracts by John Hammett came to light, was it relegated to third place. Those two tracts were printed before July 25, 1727, while Franklin's pseudonymous preface to his almanac is dated August 30 of that year.[20]
Although it may no longer be regarded as the first Rhode Island book, this small almanac nevertheless is of exceptional interest. Four years before Benjamin Franklin inauguratedPoor Richard's Almanackhis elder brother presented himself in this wise:
Tho' I have not given you myproper Name, yet I assure you I have had one the greatest part of half an hundred Years; and I know of no Necessity for parting with it at this Time, since I presume my Almanack will answer all the Ends design'd without that Expence. So, wishing you a happy new Year; bid you adieu.PoorROBIN
Tho' I have not given you myproper Name, yet I assure you I have had one the greatest part of half an hundred Years; and I know of no Necessity for parting with it at this Time, since I presume my Almanack will answer all the Ends design'd without that Expence. So, wishing you a happy new Year; bid you adieu.
PoorROBIN
James Franklin strove to make his almanac entertaining, and he did not refrain from injecting anticlerical gibes or a bit of ribaldry. He obviously relished such pithy sayings as "More religion than honesty" and "If you cannot bite, never show your Teeth."
The Library of Congress purchased its unique copy for $35 at the Brinley sale of 1879. It then had seven leaves and seemed to lack an eighth leaf at the end. Much later, George Winship, librarian of the John Carter Brown Library, reported a curious happening in an article that he contributed toThe Providence Sunday Journal, November 19, 1911:
A few weeks ago some one noticed that a leaf which was bound at the end of a book in the Boston Public Library had nothing whatever to do with that book. It was apparently a leaf of an old almanac, and after some research Alfred B. Page of the Massachusetts Historical Society Library was successful in identifying it, not only as the last leaf of the almanac for 1728, which was printed in Newport toward the end of the preceding year, but as the identical leaf which originally formed a part of the copy now belonging to the Library of Congress.The officials in Washington sent their book to Boston to make certain of the identification, and in return they have been presented with the missing member, so long separated from its proper body. On its way back to Washington, this precious little waif is making a visit to the State of its origin, and will be for a few days on exhibition at the John Carter Brown Library, in company with various of its contemporary rivals, predecessors and followers.
A few weeks ago some one noticed that a leaf which was bound at the end of a book in the Boston Public Library had nothing whatever to do with that book. It was apparently a leaf of an old almanac, and after some research Alfred B. Page of the Massachusetts Historical Society Library was successful in identifying it, not only as the last leaf of the almanac for 1728, which was printed in Newport toward the end of the preceding year, but as the identical leaf which originally formed a part of the copy now belonging to the Library of Congress.
The officials in Washington sent their book to Boston to make certain of the identification, and in return they have been presented with the missing member, so long separated from its proper body. On its way back to Washington, this precious little waif is making a visit to the State of its origin, and will be for a few days on exhibition at the John Carter Brown Library, in company with various of its contemporary rivals, predecessors and followers.
A reprint of the almanac with an introduction by Mr. Winship, signing himself as Philohistoricus, was published at this time. And while at Boston the copy was encased in a variegated morocco binding by the Hathaway Book Binding Company on Beacon Street.
[20]SeeRhode Island History, vol. 12 (1953), p. 33-43, 105-109.
[20]SeeRhode Island History, vol. 12 (1953), p. 33-43, 105-109.
[20]SeeRhode Island History, vol. 12 (1953), p. 33-43, 105-109.
Printing commenced in South Carolina in 1731 when three competing printers migrated to Charleston: George Webb, Eleazer Phillips, Jr., and Thomas Whitmarsh. They were attracted by an offer of monetary aid that the government announced in order to secure a printer for the Colony.
The earliest Library of Congress copies of South Carolina imprints issued from the press of Lewis Timothy (otherwise Louis Timothée), a Frenchman trained in Holland and subsequently employed by Benjamin Franklin at Philadelphia. Through an arrangement with Franklin he took over the press of Thomas Whitmarsh after the latter's death in 1733, Webb having either died or departed from Charleston and Phillips having died in 1732. The Library has three Lewis Timothy imprints dated 1736: Josiah Smith's sermon,The Character and Duty of Minister and People; the session laws for November 15, 1733-May 29, 1736, entitledActs Passed by the General Assembly of South-Carolina; and Nicholas Trott's compilation ofThe Laws of the Province of South-Carolina. The sermon, advertised inThe South-Carolina Gazettefor May 22, 1736, as just published, was completed first. Still earlier printing, however, is contained in the first volume of Trott'sLaws, though the volume was not completed until September 1736. Timothy began to print the laws shortly after November 15, 1734, and the first sheets were ready in May 1735.[21]
This publication in two folio volumes is a landmark of Colonial printing; it was Timothy's most ambitious undertaking by far, one he carried out with remarkable taste and skill. The title page, printed in black and red, is particularly striking. Nicholas Trott, the editor, was a learned jurist who played a leading role in South Carolina's affairs, becoming chief justice in 1703. In the preface he sets forth his guiding purpose in compiling theLaws:
Thus I have endeavoured as much as in me lies, and have spared for no Pains, to make this Work not only useful, but plain and easy, even to the meanest Capacity, wherein if I have obtained my End, I shall not think my Labour ill bestowed: For as every Man is a Debtor to his Country, and we are not born only for our selves, so I tho't I could not do a more useful Service for the Province in which it has pleased God to cast my Lot for several years past, than to make such anEditionof the Laws, as might be of general Use to all the Inhabitants thereof; that so every one being acquainted with the Laws of the Place, may readily give Obedience to the same; in which (next to their religious Duties to GOD) not only their Duty, but also their Safety and happiness doth consist.
Thus I have endeavoured as much as in me lies, and have spared for no Pains, to make this Work not only useful, but plain and easy, even to the meanest Capacity, wherein if I have obtained my End, I shall not think my Labour ill bestowed: For as every Man is a Debtor to his Country, and we are not born only for our selves, so I tho't I could not do a more useful Service for the Province in which it has pleased God to cast my Lot for several years past, than to make such anEditionof the Laws, as might be of general Use to all the Inhabitants thereof; that so every one being acquainted with the Laws of the Place, may readily give Obedience to the same; in which (next to their religious Duties to GOD) not only their Duty, but also their Safety and happiness doth consist.
The Library of Congress owns three copies of this rare book, all lacking some pages. The copy most distinguished in its provenance bears on its title page the signature of William Bull, Jr., five times Acting Governor of South Carolina between 1760 and 1775. Also on this title page is the late 18th-century signature of one Thomas Parker. Another copy is inscribed "Thomas Farr junr. [another hand:] of St. Andrew's Parish 12th. May 1773"; and in the following century it was given "With Edward Logan's kind regards to James Parker Esq. 18 Feb 1868." Thomas Farr can be identified as a merchant,[22]but the later names have not been traced. The third Library copy retains no marks of previous ownership.
Nicholas Trott's compilation of The Laws of the Province of South-Carolina.(Nicholas Trott's compilation ofThe Laws of the Province of South-Carolina.)
(Nicholas Trott's compilation ofThe Laws of the Province of South-Carolina.)
[21]Douglas C. McMurtrie,The First Decade of Printing in the Royal Province of South Carolina(London, 1933).[22]A. S. Salley, ed.,Marriage Notices in The South-Carolina Gazette and Its Successors(Baltimore, 1965), p. 21.
[21]Douglas C. McMurtrie,The First Decade of Printing in the Royal Province of South Carolina(London, 1933).
[21]Douglas C. McMurtrie,The First Decade of Printing in the Royal Province of South Carolina(London, 1933).
[22]A. S. Salley, ed.,Marriage Notices in The South-Carolina Gazette and Its Successors(Baltimore, 1965), p. 21.
[22]A. S. Salley, ed.,Marriage Notices in The South-Carolina Gazette and Its Successors(Baltimore, 1965), p. 21.
The first printer active in North Carolina was James Davis, a native of Virginia, who probably received his training from William Parks at Williamsburg.[23]Davis settled at New Bern in 1749, and in the same year he began printingThe Journal of the House of Burgesses.
The earliest North Carolina imprint in the Library of Congress, printed by Davis in 1751, is carefully described in its title,A Collection of All the Public Acts of Assembly, of the Province of North-Carolina: Now in Force and Use. Together with the Titles of all such Laws as are Obsolete, Expired, or Repeal'd. And also, an exact Table of the Titles of the Acts in Force, Revised by Commissioners appointed by an Act of the General Assembly of the said Province, for that Purpose; and Examined with the Records, and Confirmed in full Assembly.
This collection is sometimes called "Swann's Revisal" after the commissioner William Swann, who did a major part of the editing and wrote the dedication to Governor Gabriel Johnston. One of the acts, passed on March 7, 1746, begins with the preamble, "Whereas for Want of the Laws of this Province being Revised and Printed, the Magistrates are often at a Loss how to discharge their Duty, and the People transgress many of them through Want of knowing the same...." These words reflect not only a shortage of copies, but also the need to rectify discrepancies in the manuscript copies by publishing a uniform text.
Davis did not complete the volume until about November 15, 1751, when he advertised it in his newspaper,The North-Carolina Gazette. Four distinct issues of the edition can be identified;[24]and of these, the Library of Congress owns both the third, in which the laws of 1751 and 1752 (not shown in the table) are added, and the fourth, which is like the third but with a title page dated 1752 and a new table.
The Library's copy of the third issue bears on the title page the signature of Michael Payne, a resident of Edenton, N.C., who served in the State legislature during the 1780's. The Library purchased it in 1936 from Richard Dillard Dixon of Edenton for $500. The copy of the fourth issue is signed "Will Cumming" in an early hand, and it is inscribed to Samuel F. Phillips, who was Solicitor General of the United States from 1872 to 1885 and who appears to have been the latest owner of the book before its addition to the Library in 1876.
A Collection of All the Public Acts of Assembly, of the Province of North-Carolina ... Printed by James Davis in 1751.(A Collection of All the Public Acts of Assembly, of the Province of North-Carolina: Now in Force and Use. Together with the Titles of all such Laws as are Obsolete, Expired, or Repeal'd. And also, an exact Table of the Titles of the Acts in Force, Revised by Commissioners appointed by an Act of the General Assembly of the said Province, for that Purpose; and Examined with the Records, and Confirmed in full Assembly. Printed by James Davis in 1751.)
(A Collection of All the Public Acts of Assembly, of the Province of North-Carolina: Now in Force and Use. Together with the Titles of all such Laws as are Obsolete, Expired, or Repeal'd. And also, an exact Table of the Titles of the Acts in Force, Revised by Commissioners appointed by an Act of the General Assembly of the said Province, for that Purpose; and Examined with the Records, and Confirmed in full Assembly. Printed by James Davis in 1751.)
[23]See W. S. Powell's introduction toThe Journal of the House of Burgesses, of the Province of North-Carolina, 1749(Raleigh, 1949), p. vii.[24]Douglas C. McMurtrie,Eighteenth Century North Carolina Imprints(Chapel Hill, 1938), p. 50.
[23]See W. S. Powell's introduction toThe Journal of the House of Burgesses, of the Province of North-Carolina, 1749(Raleigh, 1949), p. vii.
[23]See W. S. Powell's introduction toThe Journal of the House of Burgesses, of the Province of North-Carolina, 1749(Raleigh, 1949), p. vii.
[24]Douglas C. McMurtrie,Eighteenth Century North Carolina Imprints(Chapel Hill, 1938), p. 50.
[24]Douglas C. McMurtrie,Eighteenth Century North Carolina Imprints(Chapel Hill, 1938), p. 50.
Nathaniel Ames' An Astronomical Diary: or, An Almanack for the Year of Our Lord Christ, 1757, Printed by Daniel Fowle, 1756.(Nathaniel Ames'An Astronomical Diary: or, An Almanack for the Year of Our Lord Christ, 1757Printed by Daniel Fowle, 1756.)
(Nathaniel Ames'An Astronomical Diary: or, An Almanack for the Year of Our Lord Christ, 1757Printed by Daniel Fowle, 1756.)
The Boston printer Daniel Fowle felt himself unjustly punished by the Massachusetts Assembly for supposedly printing an objectionable pamphlet in 1754. He consequently removed to Portsmouth in New Hampshire and started that Colony's first press in 1756.
The first New Hampshire book, preceded only by issues ofThe New-Hampshire Gazette, was printed by Fowle in the same year. It is Nathaniel Ames'An Astronomical Diary: or, An Almanack for the Year of Our Lord Christ, 1757. The Library of Congress owns one of four known copies of a singularly interesting later issue or state of the edition, featuring on its next-to-last page a historical note printed within an ornamental border: "The firstPrinting Pressset up inPortsmouth New Hampshire,was on August1756;theGazettepublish'd the 7th of October; and thisAlmanackNovember following."
Almanacs written by Nathaniel Ames of Dedham, Mass., were bestsellers in mid-18th century America. This almanack for the year 1757, evidently reprinted from the Boston edition, is a somber one reflecting recent set-backs in England's conflict with France. A verse on the title page strikes the keynote:
Minorca'sgone!Oswegotoo is lost!Review the Cause: orBritainpays the Cost:These sadEventshave silenced my Muse ...
Minorca'sgone!Oswegotoo is lost!Review the Cause: orBritainpays the Cost:These sadEventshave silenced my Muse ...
The rebound Library of Congress copy, which bears no marks of previous ownership, is listed in the Library catalog of 1878 and presumably was obtained not long before then.
At about the same time the Library acquired and similarly rebound two other Daniel Fowle imprints of undetermined provenance, both of which are dated 1756 but were published later than the almanac. There is some question whether one of them, Jonathan Parsons'Good News from a Far Country, was begun at Boston or at Portsmouth. In any event, Fowle placed the following notice in the November 4, 1756, issue of hisGazette: "Good News from a far country: in seven discourses by Rev. Jonathan Parsons is soon to be published. Five of the sermons have already been set up and lack of paper prevents completion until a supply of paper arrives from London which is probable at an early date." Not until April 1757 did Fowle advertise the book for sale.[25]The other imprint dated 1756 is Samuel Langdon'sThe Excellency of the Word of God, in the Mouth of a Faithful Minister,[26]a sermon delivered on November 3 and also delayed in printing for lack of suitable paper. Both books were probably completed in the early months of 1757 but dated old style. There is a noticeable difference between the paper on which they are printed and the crude paper of the almanac, such as Fowle used for his newspaper.
[25]SeeProceedings of the American Antiquarian Society, 1915, new series, vol. 25, p. 329.[26]A Library of Congress stamp on this copy is dated 1876.
[25]SeeProceedings of the American Antiquarian Society, 1915, new series, vol. 25, p. 329.
[25]SeeProceedings of the American Antiquarian Society, 1915, new series, vol. 25, p. 329.
[26]A Library of Congress stamp on this copy is dated 1876.
[26]A Library of Congress stamp on this copy is dated 1876.
James Adams of Londonderry, Ireland, after working more than seven years with Franklin and Hall in Philadelphia, established Delaware's first press at Wilmington in 1761.
The Wilmington Almanack, or Ephemeries, for the Year of Our Lord, 1762. By Thomas Fox, Philom.(The Wilmington Almanack, or Ephemeries,for the Year of Our Lord, 1762. By Thomas Fox, Philom.)
(The Wilmington Almanack, or Ephemeries,for the Year of Our Lord, 1762. By Thomas Fox, Philom.)
The Library of Congress possesses one of two extant imprints out of four that Adams is known to have issued at Wilmington in the latter part of that year:The Wilmington Almanack, or Ephemeries[sic],for the Year of Our Lord, 1762 ... By Thomas Fox, Philom.[27]Copies, according to the title page, were also "to be had, inPhiladelphia, of William Falkner." The publication is the first in an annual series of "Wilmington Almanacs," all printed by Adams, that were prepared for the years 1762 to 1794.
The otherwise unknown author, Thomas Fox (possibly a pseudonym), brings himself to the reader's attention in this statement:
Kind Reader,Having for some Years observed those Almanacks published in America; and having formerly, in Europe, learned the Use of Mr. Thomas Street's Tables, with some others, and being willing to crowd in among the rest, I have calculated an Almanack for the Year 1762....
Kind Reader,
Having for some Years observed those Almanacks published in America; and having formerly, in Europe, learned the Use of Mr. Thomas Street's Tables, with some others, and being willing to crowd in among the rest, I have calculated an Almanack for the Year 1762....
More interesting than the colorless prose and verse selections accompanying the astronomical tables are the printer's advertisements, such as the following notice near the end of the book:
Bibles, Testaments, Psalters, Spelling-Books, Primers, Merchants blank Books, Writing-Paper, Ink, all Sorts of Blanks,viz., Bills of Lading, Kerry Bills, Penal Bills, Bills of Sale, Arbitration Bonds, Apprentices Indentures, Bonds with and without Judgment, to be sold at the Printing-Office in Wilmington.—Also, very good Lampblack.* * * Ready money for clean Linen Rags, at the above Office.
Bibles, Testaments, Psalters, Spelling-Books, Primers, Merchants blank Books, Writing-Paper, Ink, all Sorts of Blanks,viz., Bills of Lading, Kerry Bills, Penal Bills, Bills of Sale, Arbitration Bonds, Apprentices Indentures, Bonds with and without Judgment, to be sold at the Printing-Office in Wilmington.—Also, very good Lampblack.
* * * Ready money for clean Linen Rags, at the above Office.
The Library's copy of the almanac has been detached from a bound volume and bears no evidence of early ownership. It was acquired by exchange from Dodd, Mead & Company in 1908, at a valuation of $15.
[27]No. 3 in Evald Rink,Printing in Delaware 1761-1800(Wilmington, 1969).
[27]No. 3 in Evald Rink,Printing in Delaware 1761-1800(Wilmington, 1969).
[27]No. 3 in Evald Rink,Printing in Delaware 1761-1800(Wilmington, 1969).
An Act to Prevent Stealing of Horses and Neat Cattle; and for the More Effectual Discovery and Punishment of Such Persons as Shall Unlawfully Brand, Mark, or Kill the Same. Printed by James Johnston.(An Act to Prevent Stealing of Horses and Neat Cattle; and for the More Effectual Discovery and Punishment of Such Persons as Shall Unlawfully Brand, Mark, or Kill the Same.Printed by James Johnston.)
(An Act to Prevent Stealing of Horses and Neat Cattle; and for the More Effectual Discovery and Punishment of Such Persons as Shall Unlawfully Brand, Mark, or Kill the Same.Printed by James Johnston.)
An act for the provision of printing, passed by the Georgia Legislature on March 4, 1762, stated that "James Johnston, lately arrived in this province fromGreat-Britain, recommended as a person regularly bred to and well skilled in the art and mystery of printing, hath offered to set up a printing press in the town ofSavannah." Employed to print the Colony's statutes, Johnston had readied the first Georgia press by April 7, 1763, when he began to publish his newspaper,The Georgia Gazette.
From the year 1763 the Library of Congress owns several official imprints bound up in a volume of Georgia laws enacted from 1755 to 1770 and one unofficial imprint,The South-Carolina and Georgia Almanack, for the Year of Our Lord, 1764 ... By John Tobler, Esq.This almanac, which the distinguished collector Wymberley Jones De Renne gave the Library in 1907, was published by December 8, 1763, and probably printed very shortly before. The earliest of Johnston's many official imprints, predating all his other work exceptThe Georgia Gazette, are thought to be two acts advertised in that paper on June 2, 1763. They are entitledAn Act to Prevent Stealing of Horses and Neat Cattle; and for the More Effectual Discovery and Punishment of Such Persons as Shall Unlawfully Brand, Mark, or Kill the SameandAn Act for Ascertaining the Qualifications of Jurors, and for Establishing the Method of Balloting and Summoning of Jurors in the Province of Georgia. They had been passed on March 27, 1759, and April 24, 1760, and were printed in folio in four and six pages, respectively. Both acts are represented in the Library of Congress bound volume of early Georgia laws. Only two other copies of each are known to be extant.
Various owners inscribed their name in this book. Joseph Stiles, who operated the Vale Royal Plantation near Savannah from 1806 until his death in 1838, owned at least the latter part of it, where his signature and that of his son, the evangelist Joseph C. Stiles, may be seen. Another owner of the same part was John C. Nicholl (1793-1863), a prominent lawyer and jurist who served as mayor of Savannah in 1836 and 1837. A later owner of the entire volume was a certain S. H. McIntire, not known to have any Savannah connections, who inscribed it in June 1878. The Library of Congress purchased it in June 1909 from the Statute Law Book Company of Washington, D.C. for $2,500.
EXTRAIT De Régistres, des Audiances du Conseil Supérieur, de la Province de la Loüisiane. Du 7. May 1765. ENTRE L'ABBE DE L'ISLE DIEU, Vicaire Général du Diocèse de Québec, & de cette Province, Demandeur en Requête, le Procureur Général du Roi, joint.(EXTRAIT De Régistres, des Audiances du Conseil Supérieur, de la Province de la Loüisiane. Du 7. May 1765. ENTRE L'ABBE DE L'ISLE DIEU, Vicaire Général du Diocèse de Québec, & de cette Province, Demandeur en Requête, le Procureur Général du Roi, joint.)
(EXTRAIT De Régistres, des Audiances du Conseil Supérieur, de la Province de la Loüisiane. Du 7. May 1765. ENTRE L'ABBE DE L'ISLE DIEU, Vicaire Général du Diocèse de Québec, & de cette Province, Demandeur en Requête, le Procureur Général du Roi, joint.)
Only after printing penetrated the Thirteen Colonies did the French printer Denis Braud carry the art to Louisiana. His earliest known work, an official broadside concerning the transfer of Louisiana from French to Spanish ownership, was printed at New Orleans in 1764.
The earliest Louisiana imprint in the Library of Congress is the second extant example of Louisiana printing. The Library's unique copy is a four-page, folio-sized document signed by Garic, clerk of the Superior Council of Louisiana, and headed, "EXTRAIT De Régistres, des Audiances du Conseil Supérieur, de la Province de la Loüisiane. Du 7. May 1765. ENTRE L'ABBE DE L'ISLE DIEU, Vicaire Général du Diocèse de Québec, & de cette Province, Demandeur en Requête, le Procureur Général du Roi, joint." It is a decree restricting the activities of the Capuchin friar Hilaire Genoveaux and suppressing a catechism circulated by him which apparently had also been printed at New Orleans. The title of the catechism, as preserved in the text of the decree, isCatechisme pour la Province de la Loüisianne, &c. Rédigé par le R. P. Hilaire, Protonotaire du St. Siége & Supérieur Général de la Mission des Capucins en ladite Province, pour être seul enseigné dans sadite Mission. The contemporary importance of the surviving document lay in its connection with a far-reaching struggle between the Jesuit and Franciscan orders over ecclesiastical authority in Louisiana. Although it contains no imprint statement naming place of publication or printer, typographical features of the document serve to identify it as the work of Denis Braud.[28]
That this unique copy belonged to an official archive—presumably that of the Superior Council of Louisiana—the following manuscript additions make apparent. There is first a notation: "Joint a la lettre de M. Aubry, Command. a la Louisianne du 7. May 1765." (Aubry had succeeded d'Abbadie as commandant, or governor, after the latter's death in February 1765.) A second column in manuscript contains the same date as a filing guide and this descriptive title: "Arrest du Conseil Superieur de la Louisianne portant deffense au Pere Hilaire Capucin de simississer [i. e.s'immiscer] dans aucune Jurisdiction Ecclesiastique autre que celle qui lui est permise par son seul titre de superieur de la mission des RR. PP. Capucins de cette Colonie." At the end of the column is a cross reference: "Voyez les lettres de M. l'Abbe de LIsle Dieu Vicaire g[e]n[er]al de M. de Quebek en 1759 et 1760 et sa Correspond. a ce sujet."
The subsequent history of this document has not been traced before October 17, 1905, when C. F. Libbie & Co auctioned it off with the library of Israel T. Hunt, a Boston physician. The Library of Congress was able to obtain it on that date for $10.45.
[28]See Douglas C. McMurtrie,Early Printing in New Orleans(New Orleans, 1929), p. 25-26 and 88. McMurtrie mistakenly locates the original at the New York Public Library, which owns a photostat copy.
[28]See Douglas C. McMurtrie,Early Printing in New Orleans(New Orleans, 1929), p. 25-26 and 88. McMurtrie mistakenly locates the original at the New York Public Library, which owns a photostat copy.
[28]See Douglas C. McMurtrie,Early Printing in New Orleans(New Orleans, 1929), p. 25-26 and 88. McMurtrie mistakenly locates the original at the New York Public Library, which owns a photostat copy.
Formed as an independent republic in 1777, Vermont in the next year appointed the brothers Alden and Judah Padock Spooner of Connecticut to be her official printers. Publications under their imprint were issued at Dresden, before and later named Hanover, in 1778 and 1779; but in February 1779 this town, along with 15 others east of the Connecticut River, returned to the jurisdiction of New Hampshire. The earliest printing from within the present borders of Vermont came from the town of Westminster, where Judah Padock Spooner and Timothy Green, son of the State Printer of Connecticut, undertook the official printing late in 1780.
The Library of Congress possesses three Dresden imprints dated 1779. The first two listed here name Alden Spooner as printer, while the third names both brothers. They are Ira Allen'sA Vindication of the Conduct of the General Assembly of the State of Vermont, Held at Windsor in October 1778, Against Allegations and Remarks of the Protesting Members, With Observations on Their Proceedings at a Convention Held at Cornish, on the 9th Day of December 1778; Ethan Allen'sA Vindication of the Opposition of the Inhabitants of Vermont to the Government of New-York, and of Their Right to Form into an Independent State. Humbly Submitted to the Consideration of the Impartial World; andActs and Laws of the State of Vermont, in America. The earliest of the three would appear to be Ira Allen's 48-pageVindication, known from a printer's bill of February 10, 1779, to have been produced by then in 450 copies.[29]The Library's rebound copy is inscribed "from yeauthor" beneath its imprint statement, and at the head of the title page is written, "NathlPeabodysBook." Nathaniel Peabody (1741-1823), a New Hampshire legislator, served as a delegate to the Continental Congress in 1779 and 1780. His book was ultimately listed in theCatalogue of Books Added to the Library of Congress During the Year 1871.
Ira Allen (1751-1814), miniature attributed to Edward G. Malbone, ca. 1795-1798. Courtesy of the Robert Hull Fleming Museum, the University of Vermont, Burlington.Ira Allen (1751-1814), miniature attributed to Edward G. Malbone, ca. 1795-1798. Courtesy of the Robert Hull Fleming Museum, the University of Vermont, Burlington.
Ira Allen (1751-1814), miniature attributed to Edward G. Malbone, ca. 1795-1798. Courtesy of the Robert Hull Fleming Museum, the University of Vermont, Burlington.
The Library holds the other two Dresden imprints in duplicate. A copy of theActs and Lawswas formerly in the Hazard Pamphlets, acquired with the collection of Peter Force (see p. 8, above). Ebenezer Hazard (1744-1817) was an early collector of Americana. The two copies of Ethan Allen'sVindication, both printed on blue paper, are in the Hazard Pamphlets, volume 47, number 3, and in Colonial Pamphlets, volume 19, number 6. The latter pamphlet volume originally formed partof Thomas Jefferson's library, obtained by the Congress in 1815 (see p. 3, above).[30]
The earliest example of printing from present-day Vermont in the Library is a document printed by Judah Padock Spooner at Westminster in 1781[31]:Acts and Laws, Passed by the General Assembly of the Representatives of the State of Vermont, at their Session at Windsor, April 1781. In four pages, it contains only "An Act for the Purpose of emitting a Sum of Money, and directing the Redemption of the same." The Act provides for a land tax, stating in justification that "The Land is the great Object of the present War, and receives the most solid Protection of any Estate, a very large Part of which has hitherto paid no Part of the great Cost arisen in defending it, whilst the Blood and Treasure of the Inhabitants of the State has been spent to protect it, who many of them owned but a very small part thereof."
The Library of Congress copy bears the following inscription: "Secry's Office 10thAugust 1785. The preceding is a true Copy of an Act passed by the Legislature of the State of Vermont April 14th1781—Attest Micah Townsend, Secry." Although a loyalist, Micah Townsend served as secretary of state in Vermont from October 1781 until 1789.[32]The Library's copy also bears the autograph of a private owner, Henry Stevens of Barnet, Vt., first president of the Vermont Historical Society. After his death in 1867, his son Henry Stevens, the bookseller, wrote that he left his home "full of books and historical manuscripts, the delight of his youth, the companions of his manhood, and the solace of his old age."[33]To judge from its present library binding, this thin volume has been in the Library of Congress collections since the 19th century.
[29]See no. 12 in Marcus A. McCorison'sVermont Imprints 1778-1820(Worcester, 1963).[30]No. 3146 in U.S. Library of Congress,Catalogue of the Library of Thomas Jefferson, Compiled with Annotations by E. Millicent Sowerby(Washington, 1952-59). See also no. 498.[31]Imprint information supplied in McCorison, no. 47.[32]See Chilton Williamson,Vermont in Quandary(Montpelier, 1949), p. 133. On Townsend's divulging secret intelligence to the British in April 1781, see J. B. Wilbur,Ira Allen(Boston and New York, 1928), p. 183-186.[33]See W. W. Parker,Henry Stevens of Vermont(Amsterdam, 1963), p. 21.
[29]See no. 12 in Marcus A. McCorison'sVermont Imprints 1778-1820(Worcester, 1963).
[29]See no. 12 in Marcus A. McCorison'sVermont Imprints 1778-1820(Worcester, 1963).
[30]No. 3146 in U.S. Library of Congress,Catalogue of the Library of Thomas Jefferson, Compiled with Annotations by E. Millicent Sowerby(Washington, 1952-59). See also no. 498.
[30]No. 3146 in U.S. Library of Congress,Catalogue of the Library of Thomas Jefferson, Compiled with Annotations by E. Millicent Sowerby(Washington, 1952-59). See also no. 498.
[31]Imprint information supplied in McCorison, no. 47.
[31]Imprint information supplied in McCorison, no. 47.
[32]See Chilton Williamson,Vermont in Quandary(Montpelier, 1949), p. 133. On Townsend's divulging secret intelligence to the British in April 1781, see J. B. Wilbur,Ira Allen(Boston and New York, 1928), p. 183-186.
[32]See Chilton Williamson,Vermont in Quandary(Montpelier, 1949), p. 133. On Townsend's divulging secret intelligence to the British in April 1781, see J. B. Wilbur,Ira Allen(Boston and New York, 1928), p. 183-186.
[33]See W. W. Parker,Henry Stevens of Vermont(Amsterdam, 1963), p. 21.
[33]See W. W. Parker,Henry Stevens of Vermont(Amsterdam, 1963), p. 21.
FLORIDA GAZETTE. " "Vol. I. ST. AUGUSTINE, (E. F.) SATURDAY, JULY 28, 1821. No. 3.FLORIDA GAZETTE. VOL. I. ST. AUGUSTINE, (E. F.) SATURDAY, JULY 28, 1821. No. 3.
FLORIDA GAZETTE. VOL. I. ST. AUGUSTINE, (E. F.) SATURDAY, JULY 28, 1821. No. 3.
Dr. William Charles Wells, one of many American loyalists who took refuge in Florida, introduced printing at St. Augustine in 1783. There he published a loyalist paper,The East-Florida Gazette, under the imprint of his elder brother, the Charleston printer John Wells, and with the assistance of a pressman named Charles Wright. Apart from two books of 1784 bearing John Wells' imprint and a document printed at Amelia Island in 1817 during the Spanish rule, no other Florida publications survive from the years preceding United States acquisition of the territory.[34]
Richard W. Edes, grandson of the Boston printer Benjamin Edes, reestablished printing at St. Augustine, issuing the first number of his weekly paper, theFlorida Gazette, on the day of the transfer of Florida's administration, July 14, 1821. The Library of Congress holds 10 issues, constituting the best surviving file of this paper. The earliest Florida printing in the Library is the third issue, published July 28 and the earliest issue extant. This happens to be a very curious example of printing. Of its four pages the second is half blank and the third is totally blank, the following explanation being given:
TO OUR PATRONS.We are under the disagreeable necessity of issuing this number of the Gazette, in its present form, owing to a very lengthy advertisement, (occupying seven columns) being ordered out the moment the paper was ready for the Press. It being a personal controversy between Mr.William Robertson, and Messrs.Hernandez, KingsleyandYonge, Esquires, and a reply to Mr. Hernandez's publication of last week, our readers would not have found it very interesting. Its publication was countermanded on account of an amicable arrangement being made by the parties about one o'clock this day.We hope this will be a sufficient apology to our subscribers for the manner in which the Paper appears, as it is impossible for it to be issued this day in any other way, being short of hands. We pledge ourselves another instance of the kind shall never occur—and assure the public we feel much aggrieved at the imposition. The advertisement of Mr. Wm. Robertson, headed "Caution" and the reply by J. M. Hernandez, Esq. will be discontinued after this week, and no further altercation between the parties will be permitted thro' the medium of this Press.
TO OUR PATRONS.
We are under the disagreeable necessity of issuing this number of the Gazette, in its present form, owing to a very lengthy advertisement, (occupying seven columns) being ordered out the moment the paper was ready for the Press. It being a personal controversy between Mr.William Robertson, and Messrs.Hernandez, KingsleyandYonge, Esquires, and a reply to Mr. Hernandez's publication of last week, our readers would not have found it very interesting. Its publication was countermanded on account of an amicable arrangement being made by the parties about one o'clock this day.
We hope this will be a sufficient apology to our subscribers for the manner in which the Paper appears, as it is impossible for it to be issued this day in any other way, being short of hands. We pledge ourselves another instance of the kind shall never occur—and assure the public we feel much aggrieved at the imposition. The advertisement of Mr. Wm. Robertson, headed "Caution" and the reply by J. M. Hernandez, Esq. will be discontinued after this week, and no further altercation between the parties will be permitted thro' the medium of this Press.
The printed portions of this early issue include an installment of a "Historical Sketch of Florida," extracts from various newspapers, and among others the printer's own advertisements: "COMMERCIAL BLANKS, For Sale at this Office.Also, Blank Deeds, Mortgages, &c. &c." "Blank Bills of Lading, For Sale at the Gazette Office" and "BOOK AND JOB PRINTING, Of every description, executed at this Office." In this century the Library bound the 10 issues into a single volume. Those dated November 24 and December 1 are addressed in ink to the Department of State at Washington.
From the same year the Library of Congress holds 13 issues ofThe Floridian, published at Pensacola beginning August 18, some of which are also addressed to the Department of State. From this year, too, the Library possessesOrdinances, by Major-General Andrew Jackson, Governor of the Provinces of the Floridas, Exercising the Powers of the Captain-General, and of the Intendant of the Island of Cuba, Over the Said Provinces, and of the Governors of Said Provinces Respectively, printed at St.Augustine by Edes. This pamphlet-sized volume was advertised as "just published" in the September 15 issue of theFlorida Gazette; and the Library's copy, one of two extant,[35]was autographed twice by "John Rodman Esquire" at St. Augustine. Since he once added the designation "Collector" to his name, he is readily identified as the person who placed the following announcement in the November 24 issue of theGazette: "JOHN RODMAN, Attorney & Counsellor at Law, May be consulted on professional business, at his Office in the Custom-House."
Florida Gazette ads(Florida Gazette ads)
(Florida Gazette ads)
[34]See Douglas C. McMurtrie, "The Beginnings of Printing in Florida," inThe Florida Historical Quarterly, vol. 23 (1944-45), p. [63]-96.[35]See no. 36 in Thomas W. Streeter'sAmericana—Beginnings(Morristown, N.J., 1952).
[34]See Douglas C. McMurtrie, "The Beginnings of Printing in Florida," inThe Florida Historical Quarterly, vol. 23 (1944-45), p. [63]-96.
[34]See Douglas C. McMurtrie, "The Beginnings of Printing in Florida," inThe Florida Historical Quarterly, vol. 23 (1944-45), p. [63]-96.
[35]See no. 36 in Thomas W. Streeter'sAmericana—Beginnings(Morristown, N.J., 1952).
[35]See no. 36 in Thomas W. Streeter'sAmericana—Beginnings(Morristown, N.J., 1952).
The Falmouth Gazette and Weekly Advertiser (No. 2.) Saturday, January 8, 1785. (Vol. 1.)The Falmouth Gazette and Weekly Advertiser(No. 2.) Saturday, January 8, 1785. (Vol. 1.)
The Falmouth Gazette and Weekly Advertiser(No. 2.) Saturday, January 8, 1785. (Vol. 1.)
Benjamin Titcomb and Thomas B. Wait introduced printing in the District of Maine, then part of Massachusetts, with the first issue ofThe Falmouth Gazette and Weekly Advertiser, dated January 1, 1785. Titcomb was a native of Falmouth, now Portland, who had gained his experience at Newburyport, and Wait was formerly employed at Boston.[36]
The Library of Congress possesses nine issues ofThe Falmouth Gazettefrom this first year of printing in Maine. Of these the earliest is a partly mutilated copy of the second issue, dated January 8 and featuring a moralistic essay "On Entrance into Life, and the Conduct of early Manhood." This issue contains one piece of news, relayed from a Boston paper, that has importance for American printing history, namely, the arrival in this country from Ireland, "that land of gudgeons," of Mathew Carey, destined to become a leading printer and publisher at Philadelphia. Since the Library of Congress copy is inscribed "MessrsAdams & Nourse printers," it is interesting to note that one of the Falmouth news items was reprinted in their Boston paper,The Independent Chronicle, for January 20. Similarly, the Library's copy of the August 13 issue of theGazetteis addressed in manuscript to the famous printer Isaiah Thomas at Worcester, and it retains his editorial markings for the reprinting of two sections—a news item and a poem on atheism—that subsequently appeared in the September 1 and September 8 issues ofThomas's Massachusetts Spy; or, The Worcester Gazette. It was largely by means of just such borrowing amongst themselves that most early American newspapers were put together.
Four of the Library's nine issues, including the Isaiah Thomas copy, were purchased from Goodspeed's Book Shop for $13.50 in 1939. Four of the remaining five, including the very earliest, appear from their physical condition to have a common provenance. The five were listed initially in the 1936 edition ofA Checklist of American Eighteenth-Century Newspapers in the Library of Congress.[37]