A Century of Printing

Its new owner left it on exhibition in the Museum, at Independence Hall, for nine years, but finally, in 1883, sold it to the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. It has been reproduced in facsimile, and reprinted in Wallace's Commemoration Address.

EATON. (E.) An Almanac for 1688. By Edward Eaton. Philadelphia: William Bradford. 1688. 10

Printed by order of the Quarterly Meeting, to take the place of the one by Leeds. No copy is known to be extant. Of the author, it is only known that he was a Friend, and died in Philadelphia, in 1709.

LEEDS. (D.) An Almanac for 1689. By Daniel Leeds. Philadelphia: William Bradford. 1688.

No copy is known to be extant. Jacob Taylor, in his Almanac for 1706, says: "that unparalleled Plagiary and unreasonable Transcriber, D. Leeds, who hath now for 19 years, with a very large stock of Impudence, filched matter out of other men's works, to furnish his spurious Almanacks." This, and the existence of an Almanac, for the year 1693, is the only evidence I can find of there being an unbroken series of Leeds' Almanacs.

L[EEDS.] (D[ANIEL]) The Temple of Wisdom | For the Little World, | In Two Parts. | The First Philosophically Divine, treating of The Being of all Beeings, | And whence everything hath its original, as | Heaven, Hell, Angels, Men and Devils, Earth, | Stars and Elements. | And particularly of all Mysteries concerning the Soul; and of Adam before and after the Fall. | Also, a Treatise of the four Complexions, with the Causes of spiritual Sadness, &c. | To which is added, A Postcript to all Students in Arts and Sciences. | The Second Part, Morally divine, contains | First, Abuses stript and whipt, by Geo. Wither, with his discription of Fair Virtue. | Secondly. A Collection of divine Poems from Fr. Quarles. Lastly. Essayes and Religious Meditations of Sir Francis | Bacon Knight. | Collected, Published and intended for a general Good, | By D. L. | Printed and Sold by William Bradford in Philadelphia, | Anno. 1688. | 12mo.

Collation Title, 1 leaf; Preface, pp. (3); To the Doctors, pp. (3); text, pp. 1-125, (1); Second title, and To the Reader, pp. (2); text, pp. 3-48; Third title, 1 leaf; pp. 50-86; Errata, 1 leaf.

The postscript to the first part, which occupies the last three pages, is signed "Daniel Leeds."

Whenever this book has been described, stress is laid upon its containing Bacon's Essays, and the fact that the first part is entirely made up of extracts from the religious vagaries of Jacob Böhm, and more than half of the second part with the forgotten wit (which sent its author to jail) of the youthful days of a roundhead thief, is entirely overlooked. That Wither's satires should be selected as a part of the volume is more remarkable than the choice of the common sense of Lord Verulam or the wild speculations of Böhm. The wisdom of the volume is known and recognized to-day; its folly is perhaps not yet entirely forgotten, but its wit has so passed out of mind that its author was recently mentioned " as perhaps one of the best of the old English poets exhumed by modern literary antiquaries." It has been asserted that the "Temple of Wisdom" was the first book printed by Bradford. This honor is now due, if not to Budd's "Good Order," to Penn's "Excellent Privilege of Liberty and Property." There are at least three copies extant, but none of them are in any public institution. Mr. Menzie's copy sold for $190.00, and is now a part of the almost unrivaled collection of early Americana of Mr. Charles H. Kalbfleisch, of New York City.

LETTER from Father La Chaise, Confessor to the French King, to Father Peters, Confessor to the King of England; in which is contained the Project and Design of that Faction to introduce the Prince of Wales. Also a Letter from William Penn to Father LaChaise. Printed in the City of Philadelphia, in the Land of Promise, by order of Father Penn. 1688. 4to.

The title of this work, which was really printed in England, is from Sabin's Dictionary. I saw a copy for a moment at the Lennox Library, and from its typography was convinced that it never came from Bradford's press. It was probably fabricated by some of Penn's enemies in support of the charge that he was a Roman Catholic.

1689.

BULKELEY. (G.) The People's | Right to Election | Or Alteration of Government in Connecticott, | Argued | In a Letter; | By Gershom Bulkeley Esq; one of their Majesties Justices of the peace In the County of Hartford. | Together with a Letter to the said Bulkeley, from a Friend of his in the Bay. | To which is added, The Writing delivered to James Russell of Charlestown | Esq; warning him and others concerned, not to meet to Hold a Court at Cambridge, within the county of Middlesex. | By Thomas Greaves Esq; Judge of their Majesties Inferior Court of Pleas and one of their Majesties Justices of the peace within the said County | And also his Answer to Mr. Broadstreete and the Gentlemen mett at the Town-house in Boston concerning the same. Published for the Information & Satisfaction of their Majesties loyall | (but abused) Subjects in New England. | Philadelphia, Printed by Assignes of William Bradford, Anno 1689. | Sm. 4to. pp. 18. B. M. 14

Reprinted in the Connecticut Historical Society's Collections, and in the Andros Tracts. For a notice of the author see the latter, and also Colonial Records of Connecticut, Vol. 3, pp. 388-389. An explanation of the imprint will be found in the note to the Frame of Government, infra No. 16. Brinley's copy sold for $235.

FOX. (G.) Religious Papers by George Fox. Philadelphia: William Bradford. 1689.

In 1688, Bradford informed the Quarterly Meeting of his having obtained from England, several "Religious Papers, by George Fox," and asked the approval and assistance of the Meeting before printing them. The matter is several times mentioned, for the last time as follows:

"3d of 4th mo. 1689. William Bradford being ordered by the last Monthly Meeting to print George Fox's papers, which is accordingly done, and as many of them remain unsold at amount of seven shillings & 3 d. which the Meeting orders Antho Morris to pay out of the Meeting stock. I have been unable to find any trace of this work.

THE FRAME of the Government | of the Province of Pennsilvania and Territories there- unto annexed, in America. | [Philadelphia: William Bradford. 1689.] Sm. 8vo. pp. 16. F. 16

A careful comparison of this edition with the Charter as printed in the first volume of Colonial Records, shows twenty-nine variations. Twenty-six of these appear to be merely typographical errors. The other three are the omission of the word "Jurisdictions," which appears in the 18th line of page 42, Colonial Records, Vol. 1; the omission of the words "officers chosen" in the 39th line of the same page, and the omission of the words "of the Provincial Council," in the 39th line of page 44. The second of these omissions is probably the fundamentally false point to which Blackwell refers. It was printed April 8th, 1689, at the instance of Joseph Growden, and other opponents of the then Governor, John Blackwell, who, supported by a majority of the Provincial Council, was pursuing a line of conduct, which gave rise to the charges, officially denied by the declaration issued 23d of 3d mo. 1689. "That the Governor and some members of the Council had a design or intent to subvert and overturn the frame of Government, and to make voyd the Charter." The Governor on seeing a copy declared "It was high presumption in any man, to promote the publishing of any paper of such concerne without direction, especially for that it was false in as fundamental a point as that was," and, having summoned Bradford to appear before the Council, bound him under £500 penalty not to print anything without a licence. Bradford's account of his examination, in which he boldly asserted the liberty of the press, yet warily avoided committing himself, appears in full in Wallace's Commemorative Address. It was not the first time he had printed the Charter. For, besides the claim he makes of having printed it by Penn's order in England, (presumably the London edition of 1682, which is without a printer's name), he had published it in Liberty and Property," without exciting any comment. Blackwell no doubt acted under the idea that the Charter had been wilfully distorted in the interest of his opponents.

In addition to the small encouragement in the way of work, Bradford had received since he set up his press, he had now been three times-twice by the Governor and once by the Meeting—taken to task and forbidden to freely follow his trade. His position was more vexatious than it would have been in England, for he found here not only that license he must have, but instead of his “Imprimatur" issuing from Stationers' Hall, the power to grant it was claimed by both the Civil and Religious authorities, the leaders of which were widely at variance. He determined to return to England, applied to the Meeting for a "certificate of removal," and transferred the press to his "assignes," as appears in the imprint of No. 14. He was, however, induced to remain, by the offer of a salary and promise of employment from the Yearly Meeting. The sum offered was £40 per annum. This apparently small stipend becomes a very liberal allowance when compared with the salaries of the Provincial officers. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court received but £100, the Associate Justice £50, and the Attorney General £60. George Keith's salary as Head Master of the Friends' School was only £50. Just how much business the Meeting was able to "throw in his way," it is impossible to form any definite idea. The four small tracts (Nos. 15, 22, 25 and 30), which are supposed to have been printed by order of the Meeting in 1690 and 1691, would not have afforded him much encouragement. It is most probable that Bradford produced a number of works which have now entirely disappeared.

KEITH. (G.) The Presbyterian and Independent | Visible Churches in New-England | And else-where, | Brought to the Test, and examined accor- | ding to the Doctrine of the holy Scriptures, in their Doctrine, Ministry, Worship, Consti- | tution, Government, Sacraments and Sabbath | Day, and found to be No True Church of Christ. | More particularly directed to these in New-Eng- | land, and more generally to those in Old- | England, Scotland, Ireland, &c. | With | A Call and Warning from the Lord to the People of Boston and New-England, to Repent, &c. And two Letters to the Preachers in Boston; and an Answer to the gross Abuses, Lyes and Slanders of Increase Mather and Samuel Norton, &c. | By George Keith. | Philadelphia, Printed and Sold by Will. Bradford, | Anno 1689. | Sm. 8vo. H. S. P. 17

Collation Preliminary leaf, recto blank, verso 5 verses from Revelations ; Title, 1 leaf; A Friendly Epistle, pp. (7); Errata, 1 page; text, pp. 1-215; Postscript; pp. 215-232.

This work, although written while the author was a member of the Society of Friends, was expressed in such a tone as to cause the Rev. Thomas Barton, an Episcopal Missionary in Central Pennsylvania, to write to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, in 1766, that he "often wished that Keith's Presbyterian and Independent Churches brought to the test, could be sent over to every mission." It was answered by Cotton Mather, James Allen, Joshua Moodey and Samuel Willard in "The Principles of the Protestant Religion Maintained." It was reprinted in London in 1691. Menzies' copy sold for $25; Brinley's for $41.

LEEDS. (D.) An Almanac for 1690. By Daniel Leeds. Philadelphia: William Bradford. 1689. 18

No copy is known to be extant.

C. 19

The Brinley Catalogue suggests that this tract was printed by Bradford. The copy there described sold for $52.50, and is now in the Library of Congress, where I made a careful examination, and after comparing it with other specimens of Bradford's press, I arrived at the conclusion that it was not printed by Bradford. Most of the "letter" is not unlike some of Bradford's, but there is at least one line of type which I never met in any other specimen of his press. Sabin (Dictionary, No. 46,722) erroneously ascribes the authorship to Increase Mather, and gives London as the place of publication. It was an answer to Increase Mather's "Present State of New English Affairs," and the London edition, printed in 1690 and reprinted in the Andros Tracts, says on the title page, "By John Palmer."

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A Century of Printing: The Issues of the Press in Pennsylvania ..., Volum 1