Book Trades collection, 1726-1939.

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Book Trades collection, 1726-1939.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/207117367

The Book Trades Collection, 1726-1939, highlights the history of over two centuries of American printing, publishing, and bookselling. There is also material relating to bookbinding, public and private libraries, and contemporary politics. Included are receipts and accounts (loose and bound in volumes), inventories and catalogues of almanacs, school books, and libraries, petitions concerning duties on items relevant to the printer's trade, library subscription lists, apprenticeship agreements, deeds of sale of printing establishments, and a large amount of correspondence concerning the operation of various printing and publishing enterprises. Many items are photocopies of original documents located at several historical societies and archival repositories. The material representing the eighteenth century includes: private library catalogues, e.g., Rev. Joseph Seccombe (1706-1760); a catalogue of almanacs printed in Massachusetts from 1678 to 1750; Bibles purchased for Quaker meetings in Pennsylvania, 1790; accounts of Massachusetts Bay Colony with area printers; petitions; book lists of circulating libraries; the account book, 1771-1779, of John Carter (1745-1814) of Providence, Rhode Island; lists of New England printers, 1770-1783; and business letters between printers and customers, including Samuel Hall (1740-1807), Timothy Green (1737-1796), Isaiah Thomas (1749-1831), John Carter, and Noah Webster (1758-1843). Several letters concern family matters and friendships; others complain of libelous statements and demand redress. Of special note is an original thirteen-page letter written by printer John Holt (1721-1784) to William Goddard (1740-1817), 26 February 1778, concerning the character of Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) and "the wisdom of preventing him from having too great an influence on American affairs." Apparently, this "expose" was to have been printed by Goddard. Among the nineteenth century manuscripts are: book catalogues; petitions concerning duties on printing type and advertisements; an indictment, 1803, by Pennsylvania Attorney General Joseph Borden McKean (1764-1826) charging Joseph Dennie (1768-1812) with libel; arguments by William Jenks (1778-1866) for the formation of a printing establishment in Western Asia, c. 1810; lists of "Valuable School Books," 1811-1814; printers' and booksellers' accounts; deeds; bookbinding accounts; several sketches and patents of new printing equipment; and letters written by David Ramsay (1749-1815), Joshua Leavitt, Jr. ( -1862), Lewis F. Shepard ( - ), Noah Webster, Alden Spooner (1783-1848), and Charles Holt (1772-1852). The latter wrote of presidential politics in 1810 and 1816. Also among the correspondence are letters of Joseph Tinker Buckingham (1779-1861) to Mathew Carey (1760-1839), and business letters written to Lincoln and Edmands, Boston, Mass., and James Thomas Fields (1817-1881). There are also detailed letters from the American Tract Society, 1857, concerning the success of colporteurs in distributing religious tracts to Southerners. Among the prominent authors who were writing to publishers were James Fenimore Cooper (1789-1851) and Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811-1896). There are also several letters, 1835-1862, written to H.O. Houghton & Company, Cambridge, Mass., including two undated letters written by Samuel Eliot (1777-1845) concerning details of the company's publication of his new book; two letters, 1853, written to Maturin Murray Ballou (1820-1895), editor of Gleason's Pictorial, concerning publications, including one written by author Thomas Holley Chivers (1809-1858); and several letters of authors seeking subscriptions to or publication of their works. A small amount of twentieth century material includes a letter written by Joaquin Miller (1841-1913) concerning his publications, and letters to various customers from printers and booksellers.

3 boxes.1 folder (7 items) ; oversize.

American Antiquarian Society

Information

SNAC Resource ID: 7000275

American Antiquarian Society

Related Entities

There are 27 Entities related to this resource.

Stowe, Harriet Beecher, 1811-1896

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6qw4dg2 (person)

Harriet Beecher Stowe (b. June 14, 1811, Litchfield, Connecticut – d. July 1, 1896, Hartford, Connecticut) was an American abolitionist and author. She is the daughter of Rev. Lyman Beecher who preached against slavery. She is best known for writing Uncle Tom's Cabin. It became an instant and controversial best-seller, both in the United States and abroad. The novel had a major impact on Northerners' attitudes toward slavery and by the beginning of the Civil War had sold more than a million copi...

Ramsay, David, 1749-1815

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6b961ms (person)

David Ramsay (April 2, 1749 – May 8, 1815) was an American physician, public official, and historian from Charleston, South Carolina. He was one of the first major historians of the American Revolutionary War. During the Revolution he served in the South Carolina legislature until he was captured by the British. After his release he served as a delegate to the Continental Congress from 1782 to 1783 and again from 1785 to 1786. Afterwards he served in the South Carolina legislature until retiring...

Franklin, Benjamin, 1706-1790

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6bs9j71 (person)

Benjamin Franklin FRS FRSA FRSE (January 17, 1706 [O.S. January 6, 1706] – April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher and political philosopher. Among the leading intellectuals of his time, Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, a drafter and signer of the United States Declaration of Independence, and the first United States postmaster general. As a scientist, he was a major figure in ...

Cooper, James Fenimore, 1789-1851

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6gn9004 (person)

James Fenimore Cooper (September 15, 1789 – September 14, 1851) was an American writer of the first half of the 19th century. His historical romances depicting colonist and Indigenous characters from the 17th to the 19th centuries created a unique form of American literature. He lived much of his boyhood and the last fifteen years of life in Cooperstown, New York, which was founded by his father William Cooper on property that he owned. Cooper became a member of the Episcopal Church shortly befo...

Leavitt, Joshua

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6m40r71 (person)

Dennie, Joseph, 1768-1812

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6156881 (person)

An American essayist and editor, Joseph Dennie graduated from Harvard College in 1790 and was admitted to the bar in 1794. When his law practice failed to flourish, he turned to writing. Dennie wrote for weekly papers in Walpole, New Hampshire, Boston, Massachusetts, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvannia. He was closely associated with the Farmer's Weekly Museum of Walpole, for which he wrote " Lay Preacher " and which under his editorship ( 1796-1798 ) became a strong Federalist organ read throughout...

Ballou, Maturin Murray, 1820-1895

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6x652tr (person)

American author and journalist. From the description of Letter, an envelope, and a list, 1894. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 367575009 American Journalist and Author. From the description of Autograph letter signed : Boston, to Ben. Perley Poore, 1852 Oct. 23. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 270622058 American journalist, traveler, author From the guide to the Maturin Murray Ballou papers, 1857, undated, (The New York Public Library. Manuscri...

Carter, John, 1745-1814

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w65r2rkf (person)

John Carter (1745-1814) served as an apprentice to Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) and David Hall (1714-1772) in Philadelphia, Pa., until 1768, when he moved to Providence, R.I. He became associated with Sarah Updike Goddard ( -1770) in the publication of the Providence Gazette. In 1769 he became sole editor of the influential newspaper and remained in that position until his retirement in 1814. Carter also served as postmaster of Providence from 1772-1792. From the description of Acco...

Holt, Charles, 1772-1852

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6fv6gmm (person)

Charles Holt was a printer and publisher in New London, Conn., and Hudson and New York City, N.Y. He also served as a naval clerk and commissioner in New York City. From the description of Charles Holt papers, 1811-1815. (New-York Historical Society Library). WorldCat record id: 711609206 ...

Hall, Samuel, 1740-1807

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w65v1g5d (person)

Miller, Joaquin, 1837-1913

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6x0696w (person)

Joaquin Miller, born Cincinnatus Heine Miller and known as the "poet of the Sierras," was a Calif. poet and playwright. Beginning in 1886, he built and lived in a home on his estate, "The Hights"[sic], in the hills above Oakland. From the description of Joaquin Miller letter : Dimond, Calif., to Mr. Stone: ALS 1905 May 11. (California Historical Society). WorldCat record id: 122558852 Born Cincinnatus Heine (or Hiner) Miller on September 8, 1837, near Liberty, Indiana. In 18...

Green, Timothy, 1737-1796

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6r21m4z (person)

Printer, of New London, Conn. From the description of Timothy Green bill, 1781-1784. (New London County Historical Society). WorldCat record id: 74986074 ...

H.O. Houghton & Company.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6x693tp (corporateBody)

Shepard, Lewis F.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w64826c0 (person)

American Tract Society

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6cp0xc7 (corporateBody)

In May 1825 the American Tract Society, located in Boston (formerly New England Tract Society), merged with the New York Religious Tract Society to form the American Tract Society, located at New York, N.Y. From the description of Correspondence of the Richmond Agency of the American Tract Society, 1864-1875. (Huntington Library, Art Collections & Botanical Gardens). WorldCat record id: 122564916 Nondenominational Christian publishing house; founded, 1825; produced Chris...

Jenks, William, 1778-1866

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6jh48tj (person)

William Jenks was born in Newton, Massachusetts on November 25, 1778. He received an A.B. from Harvard College in 1797, an A.M. in 1800 and an S.T.D. in 1842. He also received two degrees from Bowdoin College: an S.T.D. in 1825 and an L.L.D. in 1862. Jenks served as pastor of churches in Cambridge, Massachusetts and Bath, Maine before joining the faculty of Bowdoin College as professor of Oriental and English literature. He later returned to Boston, where he founded a mission for seamen and took...

Buckingham, Joseph T. (Joseph Tinker), 1779-1861

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6b934wg (person)

Editor, publisher and critic. From the description of Letter to John Rowe Parker, 1821. (University of Pennsylvania Library). WorldCat record id: 63615074 Joseph Tinker Buckingham was an eminent New England journalist and editor, remembered for his bold style and several innovative publications. Born in Windham, Connecticut, to impoverished shoemaker Nehemiah Tinker, he was baptized Joseph Buckingham at the request of a relative. Buckingham apprenticed with a printer in his ...

Webster, Noah, 1758-1843

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6650crt (person)

American lexicographer, textbook author, spelling reformer, word enthusiast, and editor; b. in Hartford, Conn.; attended Yale and taught school in the Hartford area; moved to New Haven, Conn., in 1798. From the description of Noah Webster papers, 1786-1980. (New Haven Colony Historical Society Library). WorldCat record id: 319706045 Noah Webster (1758-1843) was an American lexicographer, author and editor. He is best known for his spellers (early spelling textbooks) and his ...

Fields, James Thomas, 1817-1881

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6rv0pxn (person)

James Thomas Fields, American publisher and author, was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire in 1817. At the age of 17, he went to Boston to clerk in a booksellers shop. While clerking, he often wrote for newspapers and in 1839 he became junior partner in the publishing and bookselling firm known after 1846 as Ticknor and Fields, and after 1868 as Fields, Osgood & Company. He was the publisher of several prominent contemporary American and British writers. Besides just publishing the authors, h...

Holt, John, 1721-1784

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6xb075s (person)

Printer and publisher. From the description of Account : with the estate of Abraham De Peyster, New York, 1772 Jan. 22. (Rosenbach Museum & Library). WorldCat record id: 122525056 ...

Eliot, Samuel, 1777-1845.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6tb93gn (person)

Goddard, William, 1740-1817

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6wh2sdq (person)

Journalist and printer. From the description of Receipted invoice of William Goddard, 1786. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 79452946 Born in Ireland, Mathew Carey spent most of his professional career in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where he worked as a printer, publisher, and economist. From the guide to the Mathew Carey letterbooks, 1788-1794, 1788-1794, (American Philosophical Society) ...

Thomas, Isaiah, 1749-1831

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w64b2zq8 (person)

Thomas was a New England printer and bookseller who strongly supported the American Revolution. He was also a founder of the American Antiquarian Society in Worcester, Massachusetts. From the description of ALS: Worcester [Massachusetts], to Mr. Bress, 1795 Aug. 20. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 86160118 Caleb Alexander was born in 1755 in Northfield, Massachusetts, a town founded by his grandfather. He attended Dartmouth, Yale, and Brown Universities, receiving degrees fro...

Seccombe, Joseph, 1706-1760

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6xq51cp (person)

Spooner, Alden, 1783-1848

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6gt64vk (person)

Printer, active in Brooklyn (N.Y.), Sag Harbor (N.Y.), and New London (Conn.). From the description of Correspondence, 1809-1848. (New York University, Group Batchload). WorldCat record id: 58776210 ...

Chivers, T. H. (Thomas Holley), 1809-1858

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6gf16dw (person)

Poet, of Washington (Wilkes Co.), Ga. From the description of Papers, 1833-1859. (Duke University Library). WorldCat record id: 19465199 ...

Lincoln & Edmands

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6nd1h2b (corporateBody)