[EIGHT EARLY MASSACHUSETTS TRACTS ON VARIOUS SUBJECTS, INCLUDING CURRENCY, MANUFACTURES, AND EARTHQUAKES]

Book Description

Boston. 1727-1742.. Eight volumes bound in one. Pagination described below. Half title in first five works. Contemporary calf, ornate blind-tooled border on covers, spine in seven compartments, 20th-century paper label with manuscript caption title. Covers bowed, rubbed, and scuffed. Spine cracked with one- inch chip at head, hinges worn. Old tape repair on verso of one half title. Occasional minute foxing. Later 18th- century ownership inscription on front free endpaper and later title. Despite pronounced wear to binding, this remains a superlative (and unusually ornate) example of mid- 18th- century American bookbinding. In a half morocco box. An intriguing sammelband of early Boston imprints, the most important of which discuss early New England currency, manufactures, and the famed Massachusetts earthquake of 1727. The pamphlet on manufactures is by far the most important item here, being the earliest substantive work on manufacturing published in the United States (see item 6). The titles are: 1) Rogers, John: THE PERFECT AND UPRIGHT MAN CHARACTERIZ'D AND RECOMMENDED. A FUNERAL DISCOURSE OCCASIONED BY THE DEATH OF THE HONORABLE JOHN APPLETON.... Boston: J. Draper for D. Henchman, 1739. [2],24pp. Rogers uses the late Rev. Appleton as an example of the just life. Also included here is Nathaniel Rogers' THE CHARACTER, COMMENDATION, AND REWARD OF A FAITHFUL SERVANT OF CHRIST..., with a separate titlepage, though clearly produced as one publication. OCLC locates only seven copies. OCLC 1698386. EVANS 4418. NAIP w027599. 2) THE TESTIMONY AND ADVICE OF AN ASSEMBLY OF PASTORS OF CHURCHES IN NEW-ENGLAND AT A MEETING IN BOSTON, JULY 7, 1743. Boston: S. Kneeland and T. Green, [1743]. 51pp. The pedagogical product of this enthusiastic Great Awakening clergy gathering. EVANS 5136. NAIP w029522. 3) [Vans, Hugh]: SOME OBSERVATIONS ON THE SCHEME PROJECTED FOR EMITTING 60000£. IN BILLS OF A NEW TENOUR TO BE REDEEMED WITH SILVER AND GOLD.... Boston: S. Kneeland and T. Green, 1738. [2],25pp. An extremely early treatise on paper money, written in the form of a letter from a merchant to a friend in the country, sometimes attributed to William Douglass, but now considered the work of Hugh Vans. The paper money debate was an on- going conversation in the colonies prior to the Revolution. As early as 1729, Benjamin Franklin published his MODEST ENQUIRY INTO THE NATURE AND NECESSITY OF A PAPER CURRENCY..., and in 1740, Douglass (better known for his medical tracts) and Vans each published similar works in Boston. In the present tract Vans condemns the proposed plan for two main reasons: the colony is unable to cover its current debts, and the fluctuating values of silver and gold make it unlikely the currency would bear value in an international market. Vans' tract is particularly notable for the detailed description he provides of the proposed scheme. A good précis of the currency debate in colonial Massachusetts. OCLC locates five copies. OCLC 30508414, 5298109. EVANS 4308. NAIP w002502. KRESS 4408. MANSELL 629:576. SABIN 20725. 4) McGregore, David: PROFESSORS WARN'D OF THEIR DANGER.... Boston: J. Draper, 1742. 16pp. A caution to those who seek knowledge outside that gleaned through the church. A Puritanical reinforcement of the scriptural passage reminding wise men that "you do not know what you think you know." Extremely rare. OCLC locates only two copies. OCLC 46293031. NAIP w027894. EVANS 4991. 5) Swift, John: A SERMON PREACH'D AT BOSTON BEFORE THE GREAT AND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE PROVINCE OF MASSACHUSETTS=BAY IN NEW- ENGLAND.... Boston: B. Green, 1732. [2],25pp. A scarce election sermon. OCLC 16680689. EVANS 3607. NAIP w029216. 6) A LETTER TO THE MERCHANT IN LONDON, TO WHOM IS DIRECTED A PRINTED LETTER RELATING TO THE MANUFACTORY UNDERTAKING.... [Boston]: Printed for the Public Good, 1741. 28pp. Like Alexander Hamilton's famed manufactures report (which this predates by fifty years), the present author's letter to a London merchant in response to a proposed plan to produce new "manufactory bills" describes these fundamental pillars of the colonial economy: currency, industry, and trade. What led to the writing of this pamphlet was the founding of the Manufactory Company, an enterprise to manufacture textiles, begun in 1740, which had engendered arguments about interest rates, stocks, currency, and credit. The author responds to criticism that the currency in the colonies is "confused," and cites the circulation of New Hampshire and Rhode Island notes as evidence to the contrary. He continues by asserting that recognition of these legal tenders is essential to promote ongoing ship construction and other manufactures, and that to wait for bills to be used specifically to settle industrial debts is ridiculous. The overall thrust of his argument is that colonial currency must be validated in Great Britain and the colonies for manufactures to continue apace; no new manufactory bills are needed. An engaging summary of early colonial industry, fifty years before Hamilton's landmark report. It was evidently missed by Rink, who does list two works (a broadside and a four-page pamphlet) relating to the Manufactory Company (see Rink 3264, 3265). These 1740 pieces recorded by Rink are the earliest American publications listed relating to manufactures. OCLC locates only three copies. OCLC 17180513. KRESS 4566 (imperfect). EVANS 4739. NAIP w013336. 7) Homes, William: PROPOSALS OF SOME THINGS TO BE DONE IN OUR ADMINISTRING [sic] ECCLESIASTICAL GOVERNMENT.... Boston: B. Gray, 1732. [2],iv,36pp. An influential treatise on church reform by this prolific author. OCLC 13042288. EVANS 3553. NAIP w028000. 8) Foxcroft, Thomas: THE VOICE OF THE LORD FROM THE DEEP PLACES OF THE EARTH. A SERMON...THREE WEEKS AFTER THE EARTHQUAKE. Boston: S. Gerrish, 1727. [2],52pp. This sermon contains one of the best contemporary descriptions of the famous earthquake that shook New England in November 1727: "It was on the night after the Lord's Day (Octob. 29.) a little more than half an hour past Ten, that the first and great Shake was felt: - when the Heavens were most serene, the Atmosphere in a perfect Calm, and there had been no generally observed Presages of any such Event. Some say, Before they were sensible of the Shock, they saw flashes of Light glance their Windows, and others observ'd their Dogs give a sudden bark, as when affrighted. But before they could look about them, to know the meaning of these things, they heard first a gentle murmur, like a small ruffling Wind, and then a more noisy Rumbling, as of Thunder at some Distance: which seem'd to approach nigher, and grew louder, till it roared terribly; and then we felt our Houses totter and reel, with the tremulous Motion and Heaving of the Earth, as if they would tumble down into Ruins. It's tho't the greatest Earthquake this Country ever knew...." Recent seismographic scholarship has focused much on early New England earthquakes in an effort to better predict their future occurrence. OCLC 11048419. EVANS 2874. NAIP w002453. In all, a diverse and engaging collection, offering an attractive juxtaposition of colonial New England religion, economics, and struggle with the natural world. EVANS 4418, 5136, 4308, 4991, 3607, 4739, 3553, 2874.

Not sure what some of these terms mean? Look it up in our glossary.