AMERICANA TO 1820
AMERICANA TO 1820
Tough Times for a Famous “Name”
Meade,
George. Autograph Letter Signed. Philadelphia, PA, 1798. Folio (31.7 cm, 12.5"). [2] ff.
Meade was, briefly, a member of the 3rd Philadelphia Battalion, but saw no military action himself; his grandson was Gen. George Gordon Meade, commander of the Army of the Potomac.
• On Meade, see: Dictionary of American Biography, XII, 473–74. Creased along folds, with a few ink blotches and very minor offsetting. Later pencilled note beneath signature.
Colonial-era American Almanac Mein and Fleeming's register for New-England and Nova Scotia. With all the British lists; and an almanack for 1768, being bissextile or leap year. Calculated for the meridian of Boston. Illustrated with a type of the eclipse of the sun of January 19th. Boston: Printed by Mein and Fleeming, and to be sold by John Mein at the London Book-Store, north-side of King-Street, [1767]. 12mo. 92, [4] pp.; illus.
Click the interior images for enlargements. 
The last leaf, filled on both sides, lists a “Grand Assortment” of books available from
• Evans 10687; Drake 3164; ESTC w22665. Sewn in original marbled wrappers. Usual foxing and light age-toning of almanacs of this era and region. Some dog-earing and “thumbing”; small piece of wrapper missing from lower spine. Else very good. (18214)
Ephrata Imprint, with the
Dordrecht Confession of Faith Mennonite Church. Die Ernsthafte Christenpflicht. Darinnen schöne geistreiche Gebäter, womit sich fromme Christen-Herzen zu allen Zeiten und in allen Nöthen trösten können. Ephrata, [Pa.]: Gedruckt bey Johannes Baumann, 1808. 12mo ([with vertical chain line] 14 cm; 5.5"). 202 pp., [1] f.
• Shaw & Shoemaker 14952; Arndt, German Language Printing in the U.S., 1596. Contemporary calf with working metal and leather clasp; spine repaired expertly and joints strengthened. New endpapers. Old library blind pressure (not perforation) stamps. Old repairs to some margins; a few margins irregular from rodent snacking; ordinary age-toning and minor staining only. Candle wax on two pages. In all a rather good copy of an uncommon Ephrata imprint. (24395)
A PRB&M PartnerGrew Up in Lancaster —Mennonite Church (Lancaster Conference). Ein unpartheyisches Gesang-Buch enthaltend Geistreiche Lieder und Psalmen, zum Allgemeinen Gebrauch des Wahren Gottesdienstes. Auf Begehren der Brüderschaft der Menonisten Gemeinen aus vielen Liederbüchern gesammelt. Lancaster [PA]: Johann Albrecht, 1804. 8vo (18.2 cm, 7.2"). [3] ff., 79, [1], 415, [1 (blank), 17, [1 (blank)] pp.
Click the interior images for enlargements. This German blackletter hymnal includes unaccompanied melodies in its first portion. The psalter, hymnal, and index are separately paged, the hymnal having a special title-page reading “Ein Neues unpartheyisches Gesangbuch . . .”
• Shaw & Shoemaker 6767; Arndt, First Century of German Language Printing in the U.S.,1395. Not in Sabin. Contemporary polished speckled calf with original brass and leather clasps; binding scuffed, spine with traces of shelving label and call number, one clasp lacking tongue portion. Front pastedown institutionally rubber-stamped; front fly-leaf with early inked inscription. Pages age-toned, with moderate waterstaining and spotting. All institutional signs noted, a nice book. (15181)
Introducing the
Della Cruscans to America
A MS. Verse “Appreciation” on the Rear Blanks Merry, Robert, et al. The British album. Boston: Belknap &
Hall, 1793. 12mo. [8], 324, [2] pp.; 2 plts.
Click the interior images for enlargements. Written on the rear two fly-leaves is a manuscript poem in Della Crusca's honor, “Composed by Mrs. A. M. Vining” and dated July 17th 1800.
• ESTC W30060; Evans 25807. Contemporary mottled sheep, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label; leather rubbed overall, binding sturdy. Front free endpaper with inked gift inscription (of Mary Goldsborough) dated 1812; front fly-leaf and title-page with early inked ownership inscriptions (Miller; one, Eliza Miller). Moderate foxing. One leaf with tear from outer margin extending into text. (22557)
With
aSeal
Meant for ReuseMifflin, Samuel. Document signed on parchment, in English. “Exemplification of a common recovery with double vouchers of the messuage & plantation in Blockley late the estate of Morton Garrett.” Philadelphia, 1776. Folio (51.5 cm, 20.5"). [1] p. 
All the names involved here have powerful Philadelphia associations. A seal is affixed to the sheet, intended to be removed and used “for sealing of Writs in our Court.”
Blockley, in which the land in question was located, was a township located in West Philadelphia from about 1677 until its consolidation with the city in 1854. The name has lingered, although it has been superceded in general usage by the broader term “University City.”
• Parchment crisp and untorn, with outermost folded portions lightly spotted; front with early inked title as given above, plus pencilled numerals. An evocative document connected to some very prominent names, in excellent condition, with its seal protected for its intended reuse by a diamond-shaped paper covering.
Charlottesville
Imprint . . .
Monroe,
James. The memoir of James Monroe, Esq. Relating to his unsettled
claims upon the people and government of the United States. Charlottesville:
Gilmer, Davis & Co., 1828. 8vo (21.1 cm, 8.3"). [5], 6–60 pp.
in 1794 and 1803, and details of the monetary outlays involved. Supporting
evidence includes letters from Mr. Gouvain, Major Mountflorence, Thomas Paine,
Thomas Jefferson, and Talleyrand.
• Sabin 50017; Shoemaker 34179. Untrimmed and unbound, spine reinforced with tape. Title-page with early inked ownership inscription, and very faint numerical stamp. Light foxing, some dog-earing to lower corners.
Condensed
MONROE
. . .
Monroe, James.
A view of the conduct of the executive in the foreign affairs of the United
States, as connected with the mission to the French Republic, during the years
1794, 5, and 6.... London (repr. from Philadelphia): James Ridgway, 1798. 8vo
(21.5 cm, 8.5"). viii, 117, [1 (blank)] pp. 
• ESTC N45792; Sabin 50020; Howes M-727. Quarter blue morocco and blue cloth period-style, spine with gilt-stamped title within gilt-ruled raised bands and with gilt-stamped fleurons at head and foot. Title-page and several others stamped by a now-defunct institution; lacking final blank. Light waterstaining to lower outer margins of pages in latter half of book. A few pages with pencilled marginalia, in some instances offset onto opposing pages.
Printed by
Lydia Bailey —
Hannah's Youthful Feminism?
[More, Hannah]. The search after happiness: A pastoral drama. To which is added, Joseph made known to his brethren: a sacred drama. Philadelphia: Pr. [by Lydia R. Bailey] for Johnson and Warner, 1811. 12mo. Frontis., 72 pp.
The Search is in verse and Joseph in prose. The frontispiece is an engraving by B. Tanner after Stothard's original.
Tanner was one of America's premier early engravers upon steel and copper. A student of Peter Maverick's, he settled in Philadelphia in 1805 and continued in the Quaker City until 1845. In addition to engravings for book illustration, he produced line and stipple portraits, scenes, and views. Here his offering is printed on a lighter weight stock than the rest of the volume and, as in all copies we have seen, is browned.
• Rosenbach, Early American Children's Books, 442; Shaw & Shoemaker 23434. On Tanner, see: Stauffer, American Engravers upon Copper and Steel, I: 243–45. Beyond the scope of Welch. Publisher's salmon paper over paste boards. Clean with no tears. Frontispiece browned as noted, with two lighter spots. A very good copy.
It WasNever Smooth Sailing . . .Morford, Edward. Inquiry into the present state of foreign relations of the union, as affected by the late measures of the administration. Philadelphia: Samuel F. Bradford; New York: Brisban & Brannan; Boston: Williams Andrews, 1806. 8vo (23 cm, 9.1"). 183, [1 (blank)] pp. 
• Shaw & Shoemaker 10615; Sabin 34815; Sowerby 3353. Stitched in original blue-green paper wrappers with spine paper entirely gone and front wrapper reinforced; front wrapper with stamps and pencilled notation. Variable foxing, some staining and soiling also. Ex-Franklin Institute with a few stamps (including to title-page). Uncut copy.
Six
Serious
Volumes
Mosheim,
Johann Lorenz. An ecclesiastical history, ancient and modern, from
the birth of Christ to the beginning of the present century: In which the rise,
progress, and variations of Church power are considered in their connexion with
the state of learning and philosophy, and the political history of Europe during
that period. Philadelphia: Pr. by Stephen C. Ustick, 1797. 6 vols. 8vo (22 cm,
8.625"). I: xxiii, [1 (blank)], [1] pp., pp. xviii–xxxi, [1 (blank)], 420
pp. II: [2] ff., 571, [1 (blank)] pp. III: [2] ff., 456 pp. IV: [2] ff., 510
pp., [1 (blank)] f. V: [2] ff., 496 pp. VI: [2] ff., 387, [1 (blank)], 8 pp.,
[10] ff. 
first,
1797 American edition, vols. II–VI were printed 1798–9.
Printed with ample notes, it has a series of chronological tables at the end.
An eight- page Vindication of the Quakers disputing Mosheim's view
of that denomination is also appended at the end of vol. VI, just before the
list of subscribers. These latter include such noted names as John Adams,
then President of the United States, and John Jay, then governor of New York.
German-AmericanClassicMuhlenberg, Henry Melchior. Erbauliche Lieder-Sammlung zum gottesdienstlichen Gebrauch in den Vereinigten Evangelisch-Lutherischen Gemeinen in Pennsylvanien und den benachbarten Staaten.... Germantaun: Michael Billmeyer, 1803. (17 cm, 6.6"). Frontis., [12], 602, [8 (index)] pp. [bound with] Helmuth, Justus Henry Christian. Kurze Andachten einer Gottsuchenden Seele, auf alle Tage der Woche und andere Umstande eingerichtet. Germantaun: Michael Billmeyer, 1803. 28 pp. [and] Evangelical Lutheran Ministerium of Pennsylvania and the Adjacent States. Anhang zu dem Gesangbuch der Vereinigten Evangelisch-Lutherischen Gemeinen in Nord-America. Germantaun: Michael Billmeyer, 1803. 80 pp. 
Click the righthand image for an enlargement. • Shaw & Shoemaker 4172; Goedeke, Grundriss zur Geschichte der deutschen Dichtung aus den Quellen, 572; Arndt, First Century of German Language Printing in the United States of America, 1337. Andachten: Shaw & Shoemaker 4360; Arndt 1338. Anhang: Shaw & Shoemaker 4171; Arndt 1334. Contemporary sheep, spine with later and sympathetic gilt-stamped title and author labels, binding with brass and leather clasps (intact); leather rubbed and some chipped away with joints open though holding, and spine leather showing some cracking. Front pastedown, free endpaper, and fly-leaf with early inked ownership inscriptions; back pastedown with later pencilled notation; front free endpaper separated and back free endpaper lacking. Pages age-toned and spotted (as usual in German imprints of this period); some corners dog-eared. One leaf with portion of outer margin torn away, with loss of a few words. Condition actually rather typical, for this sort of volume!
Philadelphia-Area
FIRE
Insurance
(Mutual Assurance
Company). The deed of settlement of the Mutual Assurance Company,
for insuring houses from loss by fire, in and near Philadelphia. Philadelphia:
Pr. by W. Fry, 1818. 8vo (18.7 cm, 7.4"). 15, [1 (blank)] pp. 
In
libraries, this is a common item on microfilm—very uncommon, as a reality.
• Shaw & Shoemaker 44957. Stitched in paper wrappers, front wrapper with printed paper label; pencilled notations to upper margin of front wrapper, small smudge to back wrapper. Ownership inscription to front fly-leaf. A little foxing only.
TO Part
XV . . . |