[Mount Vernon.] Parkyns, George [Artist.]
A delightful engraving of Mount Vernon with Washington on horseback greeting visitors. The view, drawn by English artist and landscape architect George Parkyns, appeared as the frontispiece to Volume II of the English edition of Marshall's The Life of George Washington (London, 1804). The view is a slightly modified and smaller version of a circa 1794 view which Parkyns prepared as one of a projected series of twenty-four aquatints (never completed) of notable American landscapes. (For a description of the larger view, see Deak, Picturing America, 1497-1899: 204.) The view is accompanied by a fascinating bit of ephemera documenting its publishing history -- a small printed notice apologizing for the delay in the delivery of the view "owing to the continued ILL-HEALTH of MR. MILTON, the Engraver." Apparently the notice was laid in to Volume II of The Life of Washington and then the Mount Vernon view was subsequently delivered and also laid into the volume (as the view shows no evidence of ever being bound into a volume). Very limited, light spotting. Otherwise, very good. Sheet size: 8 1/4 x 10 3/4." Image: 6 x 7 3/4."
[Northeastern U.S.] [American Revolution.]
This is the first -- and apparently unrecorded -- appearance of John Lodge's map of the northeastern United States in the midst of the American Revolution. The map is documented as having appeared in William Russell's The History of America, London, 1778. However, we find no record of it appearing in The English Magazine at the end of 1777. Indeed, Jolly makes no mention of The English Magazine in either Maps of America in Periodicals before 1800 or Maps in British Periodicals. The map includes the colonial description of Long Island Sound as "The Devil's Belt." An interesting map in a previously unrecorded source. McCorkle, New England in Early Printed Maps, 1513-1800: 778.5. Phillips, A List of Maps of America: 859. This is the first -- and apparently unrecorded -- appearance of John Lodge's map of the northeastern United States in the midst of the American Revolution. The map is documented as having appeared in William Russell's The History of America, London, 1778. However, we find no record of it appearing in The English Magazine at the end of 1777. Indeed, Jolly makes no mention of The English Magazine in either Maps of America in Periodicals before 1800 or Maps in British Periodicals. The map includes the colonial description of Long Island Sound as "The Devil's Belt." An interesting map in a previously unrecorded source. McCorkle, New England in Early Printed Maps, 1513-1800: 778.5. Phillips, A List of Maps of America: 859. 7 1/2 x 10."
[American Revolution.] [Boston Map.]
800 + indices. Despite the title, this Magazine was published in Dublin. It is the volume of twelve issues plus indices for the year 1774. There is considerable reporting of the American unrest, including "Thoughts of a Traveller upon our American Disputes" (pp. 789-794). An account of the closing of the port of Boston as of June 1 notes that the day was observed as one of mourning "at Harvard in Connecticut [sic]" with bells ringing, the town-house draped in black and shops closed. Most significant, however, is a nice report on the Boston tea party and the events leading to it (pp. 84-85). Finally, an extremely uncommon map of Boston remains bound into the volume in the June, 1774 issue (opposite p. 358). Titled A New and Accurate Plan of the Town of Boston, in New England, the map is clearly based on a very similar map that appeared in the May, 1774 issue of the London-based Universal Magazine. The map is newly engraved, however, as is evident by the orientation of the title block and the misspelling of a few street names. Jolly does not list the map in his Maps of America in Periodicals Before 1800; he does, however, describe maps from the Gentleman's and London Magazine "as rare as all get-out." In addition, Jolly does describe the map in his more comprehensive Maps in British Periodicals (GAL-104). A rare map in an uncommon magazine presenting an Irish perspective on the growing unrest in the American colonies. Quarter calf over very worn marbled boards. Red spine label with gilt title. Considerable erosion along joints. Lacking endpapers. Lacking most plates and with several leaves partially loosened from the text block.
[New England.] Zatta.
An attractive Italian mapping of all of Maine, New Hampshire and Rhode Island, as well as portions of Massachusetts, Vermont, Connecticut, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. It is based on John Mitchell's large-scale, multi-sheet map of North America of 1755. The map was published during the American Revolution, and a note off the coast of Maine refers to the burning of Falmouth (Maine) by the British in October, 1775 -- an interesting example of a map being a purveyor of history as well as geography. McCorkle, New England in Early Printed Maps, 1513-1800: 778.8. Outline color; a few spots of light staining. A bit of wrinkling, especially along the centerfold. Nevertheless, an attractive example. 13 x 16 3/4."
[Slavery] [Early American Magazine] Smith, William (editor).
359-408 pp. The American Magazine and Monthly Chronicle was described by Mott as "the most brilliant magazine issued up to that time." He noted that it contained "more original material than had yet appeared in an American magazine, and much that is genuinely amusing." This issue has two significant items. One is a five-page "Short Dissertation on the Ancient and Present State of Slavery," with a running title of "Dissertation on the Lawfulness of keeping Slaves," an early defense of slavery. There is also a lengthy medical article "Of the Yaws," which according to Guerra, provides "an excellent clinical description." In addition, the final page is devoted almost entirely to military aspects of the French & Indian War -- departure of the Louisburg expedition and an update on "the Southern expedition." Evans, American Bibliography: 8071. Sabin, A Dictionary of Books Relating to America: 1133, 84585. Mott, A History of American Magazines 1741-1850: pp 80-82. Lomazow, American Periodicals: 6. Richardson, A History of Early American Magazines, 1741-1789: 99-123. Guerra, American Medical Bibliography 1639-1783: C-3. Disbound with some edge roughness. Lacks title page with engraving and list of contents; otherwise complete. Old 3" tissue repair of tear at top of pages 375/376 affects about 40 words. Rubbing to final page. Staining and foxing throughout, generally quite light but occasionally moderate.
[Early American Magazine.] Coverly, Nathaniel [publisher].
337-392 pp. An uncommon Boston-based magazine that ran from February, 1789 to August, 1790. Although Coverly had been a printer in Boston for nearly 20 years when he began The Gentlemen and Ladies Town and Country Magazine, he chose an inauspicious moment to begin publication -- just as Isaiah Thomas (the Rupert Murdoch of his time) was launching The Massachusetts Magazine. Coverly kept the magazine alive, according to Richardson, by "winning a local following of women who contributed both prose and poetry." This issue, published during the early days of the formation of the Federal government, has several items of significance: the first Act of Congress of the United States (pp. 343-344), the message from President Washington to the House of Representatives regarding the urgent need for the Fedral government to address problems with "several powerful tribes of Indians within the limits of the Union" (pp. 386-387) and a list of the Revenue officers appointed by Washington for New England and New York (pp. 388-389). A scarce magazine, with ESTC locating holdings at only four institutions. Evans add a very testy note, in part: "This magazine terminated its execrable typographical existence, with the issue for August, 1790, with the questionable distinction of having been, probably, the worst-printed magazine that ever was issued." (Based on the issue at hand, the criticism seems overly harsh.) Evans, American Bibliography: 21849. Lomazow, American Periodicals: 26. Richardson, A History of Early American Magazines, 1741-1789: pp. 351-354. String-tied, never bound. Lacks printed wrappers. Edges ragged. First leaf repaired with loss of two lines on verso. Foxing and staining, often moderate, throughout.
