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Franklin and Other Rare Americana from George S. MacManus George S. MacManus' Catalogue 395 By Michael Stillman George S. MacManus Co. of Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, has issued its Catalogue 395 of "Rare Americana." It contains over 400 rare books primarily from 18th and 19th century America, few of which you will see very often. Here are some samples. While Benjamin Franklin is the subject of only a few items in the catalogue, we thought we should give him special notice as McManus presents an interesting group of Franklin pieces. Franklin is somewhat taken for granted today, but America never produced anyone else quite like him. Patriot, statesman, politician, scientist, inventor, writer, printer....what wasn't he? He would be remembered today for each one of these roles if he had achieved nothing else. Item 359 is the fifth and most complete edition printed during his lifetime of Franklin's Experiments and Observations on Electricity.... Included is the kite and key experiment with lightning that every schoolchild has been taught (and told not to try themselves) for two centuries. This book has been called "the most important scientific book of eighteenth century America." For Franklin, it marked a turn from his scientific experimentation, as after its 1774 printing he focused primarily on diplomacy and the political needs of his soon-to-be independent country. Priced at $4,000. Oops. Here is yet another role Franklin filled left out of that previous list. In the middle of the 18th century, Franklin was involved in the forming of the first hospital in what was then British colonial America. The book is Some Account of the Pennsylvania Hospital, from the First Rise.... Franklin was involved in the founding of the hospital, was one of its managers until 1756, is believed to have written this book about it, and was the book's printer. Item 367. From 1754. $4,000. Of course printing was Franklin's first career. Item 370 ties his early printing career to his developing involvement with politics. Printed in 1742-3, it is The Charters of the Province of Pennsylvania and City of Philadelphia. The previous printing of the colony's laws was a dozen years old when the legislature authorized Franklin to print an updated edition. $4,250.
Franklin and Other Rare Americana from George S. MacManus none Item 365 is Philosophical and Miscellaneous Papers. Lately written by Benjamin Franklin. The book includes the earliest chart of the gulf stream. Another article is titled "Description of a new Stove for burning Pitcoal, and consuming all its Smoke." Yet another of Franklin's accomplishments was the invention of the highly efficient for its day Franklin stove. $8,500. Item 366 is The Private Correspondence of Benjamin Franklin....Written Between the Years 1753 and 1790. Well it sure isn't very private anymore. This collection was published by Franklin's grandson in 1817. It includes letters pertaining to Franklin's political negotiations over his career. $500. James P. Beckwourth was a large character of the Old West. Born of a slave mother and white father, he was raised and educated free. Finding it hard to secure regular work, he went off to the West serving in various expeditions. According to his biography, which is likely somewhat embellished, he spent six years with the Crow Indians and was made a chief. He would later return to the "white" world, where he would serve with the military, including a scout under General John C. Freemont. He discovered Beckwourth pass over the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California, named for him. Beckwourth's biography, which was published in 1856, was quite popular in its time. This book picks up where the biography leaves off. It's called James Pierson Beckwourth, 1856-1866, an Enigmatic Figure of the West. A History of the Latter Years of His Life, by Nolie Mumey. Beckwourth died under mysterious circumstances in 1866 after returning to the Crow Indians. Item 67. Published in 1957. $225. Moses Gage Leonard was a one-term congressman from New York who joined the gold rush to California in 1849. After his unsuccessful re-election bid in 1844, Leonard had gone into business, and went to California to be a merchant rather than a miner. Leonard kept a diary of his trip to California. He sailed to Panama, crossed the isthmus by riverboat and foot, and then caught a steamer up the Pacific coast. Starting from New York in April 1849, Leonard arrived in San Francisco two months later. He continued to keep the diary for a year, through April of 1850. With some struggle he would set up a successful business and be elected to the San Francisco city council, but he was evidently homesick and in time would return to New York. Item 136 is Leonard's manuscript diary, 140 pages or about 50,000 words. It is a personal window on Gold Rush California by an educated participant. $25,000.
Franklin and Other Rare Americana from George S. MacManus none For anyone having a hard day, here's something to help you appreciate your situation: West To Kansas, Being a Thrilling Account of an Ill-Fated Expedition to that Fairy land, and Its Sad Results...., by Mrs. Miriam David Colt. She and her family left their home in Potsdam, New York, to settle in Kansas in 1856. They join up with a vegetarian communal society, but it proved no utopia. They suffer through depredation, poverty, skirmishes with the border ruffians of Bleeding Kansas, storms, snakes, mosquitoes, illness and death. This is an unhappy story with no happy ending. Eventually Mrs. Colt returns to Potsdam a widow with little to show for the extreme hardships she endured. Item 219. Published in 1862. $750. One of the most popular fields for collecting today is Texas. Here is a real rarity from the brief Republic period. The title is Topographical Description of Texas. To Which is Added, An Account of the Indian Tribes, by George Bonnell. Published circa 1842, this book not only contains an extensive topographical description of Texas, but also is an account of the people, particularly the native Indians who lived there at the time. Bonnell had served as Commissioner of Indian Affairs for Sam Houston, so he was an expert in the customs of the various tribes. Item 92. $25,000. There was probably never a more loyal wife than Elizabeth Custer, also known as Mrs. George Armstrong Custer. She outlived her military, not-so-successful Indian fighting husband by over half a century, and dedicated those years to defending his reputation. She published her first book, "Boots and Saddles" or Life in Dakota With General Custer, in 1885. It was an immediate success as her husband's reputation was already firmly established. While perhaps not an entirely objective portrait of the man she admired, it is still a fascinating account of his life and times. Item 250. $2,500. There is a bit of irony in Alexander Garden's Anecdotes of the Revolutionary War in America, With Sketches of the Character of the Most Distinguished, in the Southern States, for Civil and Military Service. Published in Charleston in 1822, its focus is primarily on Revolutionary patriots from South Carolina. The irony is that within a few years, South Carolina would become the leader of the secessionist movement and would initiate the Civil War in 1860 to dissolve the Union created by that Revolution. This book harks back to an earlier day, when Robert E. Lee's father was an important figure in creating the Union. Item 386. $1,000. The George S. MacManus Company may be found online at www.macmanus-rearebooks.com or reached by phone at 610-520-7273.

Franklin and Other Rare Americana from George S. MacManus

George S. MacManus' Catalogue 395

By Michael Stillman

George S. MacManus Co. of Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, has issued its Catalogue 395 of "Rare Americana." It contains over 400 rare books primarily from 18th and 19th century America, few of which you will see very often. Here are some samples.

While Benjamin Franklin is the subject of only a few items in the catalogue, we thought we should give him special notice as McManus presents an interesting group of Franklin pieces. Franklin is somewhat taken for granted today, but America never produced anyone else quite like him. Patriot, statesman, politician, scientist, inventor, writer, printer....what wasn't he? He would be remembered today for each one of these roles if he had achieved nothing else.

Item 359 is the fifth and most complete edition printed during his lifetime of Franklin's Experiments and Observations on Electricity.... Included is the kite and key experiment with lightning that every schoolchild has been taught (and told not to try themselves) for two centuries. This book has been called "the most important scientific book of eighteenth century America." For Franklin, it marked a turn from his scientific experimentation, as after its 1774 printing he focused primarily on diplomacy and the political needs of his soon-to-be independent country. Priced at $4,000.

Oops. Here is yet another role Franklin filled left out of that previous list. In the middle of the 18th century, Franklin was involved in the forming of the first hospital in what was then British colonial America. The book is Some Account of the Pennsylvania Hospital, from the First Rise.... Franklin was involved in the founding of the hospital, was one of its managers until 1756, is believed to have written this book about it, and was the book's printer. Item 367. From 1754. $4,000.

Of course printing was Franklin's first career. Item 370 ties his early printing career to his developing involvement with politics. Printed in 1742-3, it is The Charters of the Province of Pennsylvania and City of Philadelphia. The previous printing of the colony's laws was a dozen years old when the legislature authorized Franklin to print an updated edition. $4,250.

Franklin and Other Rare Americana from George S. MacManus

none

Item 365 is Philosophical and Miscellaneous Papers. Lately written by Benjamin Franklin. The book includes the earliest chart of the gulf stream. Another article is titled "Description of a new Stove for burning Pitcoal, and consuming all its Smoke." Yet another of Franklin's accomplishments was the invention of the highly efficient for its day Franklin stove. $8,500.

Item 366 is The Private Correspondence of Benjamin Franklin....Written Between the Years 1753 and 1790. Well it sure isn't very private anymore. This collection was published by Franklin's grandson in 1817. It includes letters pertaining to Franklin's political negotiations over his career. $500.

James P. Beckwourth was a large character of the Old West. Born of a slave mother and white father, he was raised and educated free. Finding it hard to secure regular work, he went off to the West serving in various expeditions. According to his biography, which is likely somewhat embellished, he spent six years with the Crow Indians and was made a chief. He would later return to the "white" world, where he would serve with the military, including a scout under General John C. Freemont. He discovered Beckwourth pass over the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California, named for him. Beckwourth's biography, which was published in 1856, was quite popular in its time. This book picks up where the biography leaves off. It's called James Pierson Beckwourth, 1856-1866, an Enigmatic Figure of the West. A History of the Latter Years of His Life, by Nolie Mumey. Beckwourth died under mysterious circumstances in 1866 after returning to the Crow Indians. Item 67. Published in 1957. $225.

Moses Gage Leonard was a one-term congressman from New York who joined the gold rush to California in 1849. After his unsuccessful re-election bid in 1844, Leonard had gone into business, and went to California to be a merchant rather than a miner. Leonard kept a diary of his trip to California. He sailed to Panama, crossed the isthmus by riverboat and foot, and then caught a steamer up the Pacific coast. Starting from New York in April 1849, Leonard arrived in San Francisco two months later. He continued to keep the diary for a year, through April of 1850. With some struggle he would set up a successful business and be elected to the San Francisco city council, but he was evidently homesick and in time would return to New York. Item 136 is Leonard's manuscript diary, 140 pages or about 50,000 words. It is a personal window on Gold Rush California by an educated participant. $25,000.

Franklin and Other Rare Americana from George S. MacManus

none

For anyone having a hard day, here's something to help you appreciate your situation: West To Kansas, Being a Thrilling Account of an Ill-Fated Expedition to that Fairy land, and Its Sad Results...., by Mrs. Miriam David Colt. She and her family left their home in Potsdam, New York, to settle in Kansas in 1856. They join up with a vegetarian communal society, but it proved no utopia. They suffer through depredation, poverty, skirmishes with the border ruffians of Bleeding Kansas, storms, snakes, mosquitoes, illness and death. This is an unhappy story with no happy ending. Eventually Mrs. Colt returns to Potsdam a widow with little to show for the extreme hardships she endured. Item 219. Published in 1862. $750.

One of the most popular fields for collecting today is Texas. Here is a real rarity from the brief Republic period. The title is Topographical Description of Texas. To Which is Added, An Account of the Indian Tribes, by George Bonnell. Published circa 1842, this book not only contains an extensive topographical description of Texas, but also is an account of the people, particularly the native Indians who lived there at the time. Bonnell had served as Commissioner of Indian Affairs for Sam Houston, so he was an expert in the customs of the various tribes. Item 92. $25,000.

There was probably never a more loyal wife than Elizabeth Custer, also known as Mrs. George Armstrong Custer. She outlived her military, not-so-successful Indian fighting husband by over half a century, and dedicated those years to defending his reputation. She published her first book, "Boots and Saddles" or Life in Dakota With General Custer, in 1885. It was an immediate success as her husband's reputation was already firmly established. While perhaps not an entirely objective portrait of the man she admired, it is still a fascinating account of his life and times. Item 250. $2,500.

There is a bit of irony in Alexander Garden's Anecdotes of the Revolutionary War in America, With Sketches of the Character of the Most Distinguished, in the Southern States, for Civil and Military Service. Published in Charleston in 1822, its focus is primarily on Revolutionary patriots from South Carolina. The irony is that within a few years, South Carolina would become the leader of the secessionist movement and would initiate the Civil War in 1860 to dissolve the Union created by that Revolution. This book harks back to an earlier day, when Robert E. Lee's father was an important figure in creating the Union. Item 386. $1,000.

The George S. MacManus Company may be found online at www.macmanus-rearebooks.com or reached by phone at 610-520-7273.