SOCIETY NEWS AND ACCESSIONS During the last quarter of the eighteenth century was the lead- ing port in America. She built more ships, had more tonnage on the high seas, and imported and exported more goods than any other port. While the mari- time history of New England has been fairly well documented by Professor Morison and others, that of Philadelphia has been almost wholly neglected, save for monographs by Professor E. P. Cheyney and Mr. Harrold E. Gil- lingham. Very few of the records of famous Philadelphia shipyards have been preserved in libraries and, until the sources are brought to light and made accessible to scholars, this neglect of the very important maritime history of Philadelphia is likely to continue. On November 15, the Council of the Society, recognizing the importance of this subject and recognizing also the valuable work being done by Mr. Marion V. Brewington, appointed him Curator of Maritime Records for the Society. Mr. Brewington, who for several years has devoted the few leisure hours left over from business duties to a study of naval history during and after the Revo- lution, has achieved a high reputation for scholarship and has published in THE MAGAZINE OF HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY an interesting arti- cle on the State ship General Greene. It is hoped that Mr. Brewington's ap- pointment will serve to emphasize the need of preserving records pertaining to the maritime history of Philadelphia.

"Quakers in Minnesota," by Thomas E. Drake, published in Minnesota History for September, 1937, reports the story of the Friends in that state from the arrival of the "first friend" in St. Anthony on the "12th day of Fifth Month 1851" to the present time. "The Story . . . including as it does a full cycle of development from small beginnings to maturity and then to slow decline, has in it most of the elements which go to make up the larger story of western Quakerism in the nineteenth century. It shows the character and influence of the westward trend of rural Quakerism: the settling of new lands and estab- lishing of new meetings, the move to still newer lands, and the consequent decline of the older meeting groups. It shows the effects of the western experience on the essential character of Quakerism, its gradual abandonment of its older doctrines, and its adoption of the habits of worship and the mode of life of the surrounding churches and people. It shows as well the contribution the Friends have made to the life of the West. . . . Quaker piety and Quaker industry, Quaker honesty and Quaker charity, have all entered into Minnesota life in good measure."

The Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly for July, 1937, contains "A Surveyor on the Seven Ranges," by B. H. Pershing. This account of the surveying of the Old Northwest in 1786 is based on the diary of Major Winthrop Sargent, one of the surveyors. His comments on the towns and citizens of Pennsylvania are interesting, if uncomplimentary. Lancaster

113 114 SOCIETY NEWS AND ACCESSIONS January was characterized as an "unsociable Town." He wrote, "The People of this Place, tho' neighborly amongst themselves have never been noted for civility to strangers." At Carlisle, at Hannastown, at Pittsburgh he was equally dis- pleased. Returning to the last named town several months later, he confirmed his earlier impressions: "When I first came to this Place (in July last), although I made but the stay of a single day, I acquired a sufficient knowledge of the inhabitants and their manners to found an opinion not very favorable and which is confirmed in this visit, but I did not know them so totally destitute of any kind of hospitable civility as I am now authorized to pronounce. Their whole labor is at the Billiard Table."

In the Maryland Historical Magazine for September, 1937 more of the "Letters of James Rumsey," edited by James A. Padgett, are published. The majority of these letters are from Rumsey to Thomas Jefferson and deal with the efforts of the former to obtain a grant from the French government for his steam boat, then building in England. The etiquette and costume pre- scribed for one who is "to pay a french Visit . . . are things," wrote Rumsey, "that at first, I had no idea was a necessary Connection of a Steam boat." In other letters he makes pertinent remarks on the subject of patents; and comments unfavorably on the experiments the Rumsean Society of Philadelphia was proposing to make with his "improved Barkers mill" on the grounds that such an experiment, if unsuccessful because of lack of knowledge of the work- ings of the mill, "will Carry Conviction to the public, that it cannot become usefull . . . Expecially as my Opponants, will not fail to Set Every misfortune that my Schemes meet with, in the most disadvantageous point of view."

J. G. D. Paul has edited for the same magazine "A Lost Copy-Book of Charles Carroll of Carrollton" containing copies of letters (1770-1774) to Edmund Jennings, William Graves, Charles Carroll, the Barrister, and the Countess d'Auzoiier. The letters to Carroll are filled with Maryland gossip both social and political; those to Jennings and Graves touch upon the world of art and letters and upon imperial problems, and, with the exception of the last one to Graves, dated August 15, 1774, give evidence of the common interests and the similar opinions of British politics held by men of like minds on both sides of the Atlantic. The chat about books—books bought, literary prejudices, new publications—are of great interest to bibliophiles. Mr. Carroll's dictum, "Money cannot be laid out better, in my opinion than in the purchase of valuable books," will be echoed by booklovers everywhere, whether or not they are able to gratify their tastes to the extent of an annual expenditure of £30 or its equivalent.

A description of the papers of the Maryland Colonization Society, which attempted to re-establish free Negroes in a colony in Liberia, also appears in this issue of the Maryland Historical Magazine,

The Discoveries of the World from their first originall unto the Yeere of our Lord 15$$ by Antonio Galvano, translated by Richard Hakluyt is dis- 193^ SOCIETY NEWS AND ACCESSIONS 115 cussed by Zoltan Haraszti in the September, 1937, number of More Books, published by the Boston Public Library. "Heerein is orderly declared who were the first discoverours of the world since the time of the flood: by what waies from age to age the spicerie, drugs, and riches of the East were conveied into the West. . . ." The Discoveries becomes an interesting piece of Americana when Galvano speaks of "a Venetian . . . called John Cabota who hauing knowledge of such a new discouerie as this was . . . acquainted king Henrie the seuenth . . . wherewith the saide king was greatly pleased, and furnished him out with two ships and three hundred men: which departed and set saile in the spring of the yeere, and they sailed westward til they came in sight of land in 45 degrees of latitude towards the north, and then went straight northwards till they came into 60 degrees of latitude, where the day is 18 howers long, and the night is very cleere and bright. . . ." This statement that Cabot sighted land at 45 degrees north would seem to suggest that Galvano had seen the map, supposedly made by Sebastian Cabot and no longer extant, which bore the legend "prima tierra vista" above the island of Cape Breton. Galvano, born in Lisbon in 1503, was a "true Portugall" of the sixteenth century. He went to Mozambique and India, and was governor of the Moluccas from 1536-1540. But he "found neither favour, nor yet honor, but onely among the poor and miserable, to wit, in a hospitall, where he was kept seventeene yeeres vntill the hower of his death."

On December 6, 1782, Benjamin Franklin wrote to Vergennes: "I have the honour of returning herewith the Map which your Excellency sent me Yester- day. I have marked with a Strong Red Line, according to your desire the Limits of the thirteen United States, as settled in the Preliminaries between the British and American plenipotentiarys." About sixty years later Jared Sparks came upon this letter in the French Archives and began to search for the map so marked. The hunt has been continued from that day to this. Sparks originally supposed the map used by Franklin to have been a d'Anville but subsequent investigation made it appear more probable that it was one of "Le Rouge's French edition of Dr. John Mitchell's map of North America of J755'" This supposition becomes all the stronger in the light of the discovery of a map, which fits in with all the documentary evidence, in the Archivo Historico Nacional. The pertinent facts are assembled by Lawrence Martin and Samuel Flagg Bemis in the section of the New England Quarterly for March, 1937, devoted to "Memoranda and Documents" and the conclusion reached is that "Franklin's Red-Line Map was a Mitchell."

In the Summer, 1937, number of the Colophon there is an article, beauti- fully illustrated in color, by Henry S. Borneman on "Pennsylvania German Bookplates." These bookplates "were not the productions of professional artists whose work was intended for a particularly trained class. They represent the general practice of the art of handwriting and illumination and are the fruits of the appreciation which the Pennsylvania Germans generally had for . . . manuscripts as a means and form of art expression." Il6 SOCIETY NEWS AND ACCESSIONS January

When Dr. John Hendley Barnhart was preparing a bibliography of North American botany he discovered sketches, in the Appletons Cyclopaedia of American Biography, of fourteen Europeans who were declared to have come to America to study the botany of Latin America. These fourteen sketches describe the lives, activities, and writings of persons who were, apparently, wholly imaginary characters. Subsequently, other sketches of fictitious per- sons were found in Appletons Cyclopaedia when work on Sabin's Dictionary of Books relating to America was resumed. As a result of these findings Mar- garet Castle Schindler made a study of all the articles listed under the letter H and published her conclusions in the July, 1937, issue of The American Historical Review. "All articles in that letter were read, and those dealing with persons, except Indians, who were born before 1800 and had died by 1850, and who were connected with the history of Latin America, were selected for further study. The selected articles were compared with appro- priate biographical, historical, and bibliographical works, in an attempt to verify or disprove as much of the information contained in them as possible." Thus, fifteen new names were added to the list of persons "believed to be fictitious." Inasmuch as the editors of Appletons Cyclopaedia of American Biography were reputable gentlemen and scholars of note they cannot be supposed to have connived at the hoax. However, the manner in which the Cyclopaedia was edited suggests the explanation. "Contributors were free to suggest for inclusion names that were not in the original book of subjects, and they not infrequently did so. Articles were not revised in the editorial office except for form, and, as is usual for such work, contributors were paid by space. . . . The detection of fictitious articles relating to Latin America would have been particularly unlikely because ignorance of that region was even more widespread in the United States in the nineteenth century than it is today, and facts within that field would have been left to the special contributors, selected because of their real or supposed knowledge of Latin America." It becomes obvious, therefore, that this Cyclopaedia must be used with care, especially where the history of Latin America is concerned. However, as Miss Schindler makes clear, when "used with proper caution," Appletons Cyclopaedia "is still, as it always has been, a valuable and authoritative work."

From the time of its first appearance to the present, John Marshall's Life of George Washington has been considered an important and scholarly work. The biography of the hero of the Federalists by the renowned Federalist judge carried all the weight of an official party document, both to contemporaries and to more recent historians. Judge Story, writing in 1828, expressed the opinion of his time when he said that the life of Washington "would be in- valuable for the truth of its facts and the accuracy and completeness of its narrative, and such has been and will continue to be its reputation." That such was and did continue to be its reputation William A. Foran shows in his article "John Marshall as a Historian," published in the American Historical Review for October, 1937. How little deserved that reputation is he then proceeds to make clear by a careful examination of the Life of Washington 1938 SOCIETY NEWS AND ACCESSIONS 117 in relation to its sources. Extensive and frequently unacknowledged borrowings, condensations of other accounts, undigested paraphrases of the Annual Register, of William Gordon's history of the American Revolution and similar works made up the bulk of Marshall's book. Very little use seems to have been made of Washington's correspondence. Inasmuch as the Life of Washington would seem to be a compilation rather than a truly original composition "the two traditions concerning it which have been held among scholars have clearly no foundation in fact. It is not an outstanding Federalist interpretation of history. There is little of the Federalist in it because there is little of Marshall there. Neither is it 'a faithful historical narrative,' composed with the 'political acumen and . . . judicial equipoise' of 'a true historic spirit.'. . . Scholars must regret the lost opportunity, for here were the essentials for imperishable history—a great mind and a great theme."

In the same issue of the American Historical Review there appears a series of six letters (1815-1816), part of the correspondence of those "Federalist Jeremiahs," Gouveneur Morris and Joseph Kingsberry. These letters, edited by Elizabeth Brook, contain pungent comments on the War of 1812, the "wretched peace," the Democratic administration, and in general evince some dissatisfaction with "the development of the American Constitution in practice."

The Publishers' Weekly for September 25, 1937, notes the discussion of early illustrated book bindings in The Times Literary Supplement (of London) and the search for examples undertaken by the New York Public Library. "So far the earliest American printed book discovered with an illustrated cover expressly executed for the binding is a copy of 'Hoch-deutsches Evangelisch-Lutherisches A.B.C.,' Philadelphia: Published by Melchior Steiner, 1782. The front cover has a woodcut of Luther standing in his study, and below are ten lines of biographical text. On the back cover is a woodcut of a cock and a six-line stanza."

Azilum: French Royalist Colony of 1793 by Elsie Murray is a pleasant guide to the site of Asylum, that interesting settlement erected in the northern part of Pennsylvania by some of the aristocrats who were exiled by the French Revolution. Herein the story of the founding of Asylum is retold crisply and effectively, and to this tale a series of biographical sketches of the principal settlers has been appended. The colony of Asylum flourished for the short space of ten years only, but who shall say that it left "no impress on frontier history?"

The first number of a new historical journal, The Old York Road Historical Society Bulletin, has just been brought out by the Old York Road Historical Society, itself a new and energetic addition to those organizations devoted to the collection and preservation of the materials of local history. The Bulletin s format is pleasant and the cover, designed by Howard Kohlbrenner, is both attractive and suitable. Moreover, the contents of the Bulletin measure up to its exterior. There is an article by Horace Mather Lippincott on "The Old Il8 SOCIETY NEWS AND ACCESSIONS January

York Road" which reviews the building of the road, and gives something of its history as well as the history of some of the more notable landmarks along the way. The place of the Quakers in English and American fiction is discussed by Francis R. Taylor in "The Cult of the Quaker Novel." And Arthur H. Jenkins, in "The Significance of the History of Abington Meeting," gives a succinct account of the origin and subsequent development of one of the earliest Friends Meetings in this region. The Bulletin of the Fort Ticonderoga Museum for September, 1937, con- tains an article on the subject of "The Gorget—As a Symbol, and as an Ornament." The text of this article is well illustrated by plates showing the different types of gorgets worn by officers and something of their evolution.

In The General Magazine and Historical Chronicle for October, 1937, William H. DuBarry and James T. Young recall the constitutional activities of Jared Ingersoll, George Clymer, Thomas MifHin, Thomas Fitzsimons, Hugh Williamson, Robert Morris, James Wilson, and Benjamin Franklin, all of whom were connected with the University of Pennsylvania in one way or another, in an article on "The Constitution and the University." The same magazine contains an account by Michael T. Carey of Dr. Franklin*s visit to Gottingen. This visit took place in 1766 when Franklin set out to visit Pyrmont and some of the neighboring towns in Waldeck in the company of Sir John Pringle. They were received "like kings, and there was no end to the questions their hosts addressed them." Pennsylvania Arts and Sciences, volume II, number 2, contains articles by Frederic A. Godcharles on "The Indians of Pennsylvania"; on "Pennsylvania German Folk Songs," by Thomas R. Brendle; on the "Humor of the Anthra- cite Miner," defined by George Korson as "painful fun" rooted in the "physical, economic and sociological conditions that surround mining life"; on "Early Transportation in Pennsylvania," by Henry W. Shoemaker; on "Johan Printz, Governor," by Amandus Johnson; on "The Passing of the Covered Bridge," by Nelson F. Davis; on "Mike Fink and Johnny Appleseed," by Douglas Naylor; on "English Folk Songs in Southwestern Pennsylvania," by Samuel Preston Bayard; and on "Anthracite Sculpture," a recently discovered form of folk art "sprung from an American industrial environment."

Articles published in The Western Pennsylvania Historical Magazine for September, 1937, include: "The Historical Tour of 1937," by Frank B. Sessa; "The English and American Industrial City of the Nineteenth Century," by Leon S. Marshall; "Henry Marie Brackenridge and His Writings," with a bibliography of Brackenridge's works, by John Francis McDermott; and "Major William Darlington's Diary of Service in the War of 1812," edited by John W. Harpster.

"The Making of Charcoal," by Jackson Kemper, III, describes the process used in an industry that was formerly one of the most important in Berks 1938 SOCIETY NEWS AND ACCESSIONS 119

County. The Historical Review of Berks County for July, 1937, contains, also, "Berks County Through the Eye of a Camera," by Elwyn C. Winne; "Biographical Data About the Palatines Who Came to the Tulpehocken Valley in the Early Part of the 18th Century," by Charles Adam Fisher; and "Nicholas Schweyer and His Descendants," by Sara K. Brown.

From the late Mrs. John Frederick Lewis, Sr., the Society has received a number of important manuscripts, including the following: a land warrant (September, 1681) issued to William Lane, signed and sealed by William Penn; an indenture (June, 1682) between the first twelve proprietors of New Jersey; a memorandum of the court record against Thomas Raymond and Ephraim Johnston, signed by Joseph Willcox, April 23, 1706; the commission of John Moore to be collector of the port of Philadelphia, December 19, 1727; the grand jury presentment, 1749, for Dukes County at "his Maty8 Court of General Sessions of the peace held at Edgar town" in which unlucky culprits were brought to book for swearing, for fishing and traveling on Sunday, for intoxication, for "Stealing of wooll from of living sheepe," for absenting themselves from public worship for an undue space of time, and for similar offences. There are four items relating to William Moore, the Chester County justice who found himself at odds with the Assembly on matters of colonial defense. Among these are: the warrant for Moore's arrest (January 11, 1758), with extracts from the journal of the Assembly denying him a writ of habeas corpus, Moore's petition to William Allen requesting such a writ, Allen's refusal, and Moore's letter to the Assembly (August 25, 1757) in which he claimed that that body did not have the right to try him; a copy of A Preface to A Memorial delivered in to the Assembly of the Province of Pennsylvania, September 22, 1757, followed by The Memorial of William Moore. To the honourable the Representatives of the freemen of the Province of Pennsylvania, in Assembly met [Philadelphia, James Chattin, 1757]. Among the other documents given by Mrs. Lewis are: an agreement between Thomas Riche and James Pearson, carpenter, regarding the building of a house, January 31, 1761; a letter from John Penn to Sir William Johnson on Indian affairs, June 5, 1767; Oliver Ross' petition to be released from jail, June 29, 1778, and his discharge written on the back thereof by Benedict Arnold, June 30, 1778; a letter from Edward Shippen to Tench Coxe, March 28, 1782; a letter from Robert Morris to Adam Hoops, April 23, I799J a letter written by Louis Philippe d'Orleans, King of France; and a letter from John S. Morton to Colonel R. Frazer, February 5, 1851, requesting Frazer's attendance at a coming political meeting "to aid the friends of law, and liberty defend their much cherished position against the rebel-Abolitionists."

About 150 manuscripts (1812-1841), part of the correspondence of Thomas Fletcher of Fletcher and Gardiner, goldsmiths and jewelers, have been pre- sented by Mr. Wheaton J. Lane of Princeton. In 1815 Mr. Fletcher was in England and Paris on a buying trip and there are 20 letters relating to his purchases of Sheffield knives and scissors, of "good Jewelry & watches" and the 120 SOCIETY NEWS AND ACCESSIONS arrangements made to ship them to Philadelphia. Other letters contain some indication of the value of local currencies in 1816. There are dunning letters, and letters whose provenance bears witness to the widespread connections of Fletcher and Gardiner—in Mexico, New York, Boston, and New Orleans. There are invoices, insurance policies, and letters from the Ocean Insurance Company regarding the settlement of a claim. Other letters deal with shipments of goods, complaints about the quality of merchandise, orders and announce- ments of newly arrived goods.

Mr. Harrold E. Gillingham has presented to the Society a large collection of additional manuscripts relating to the Burd family. These include: 10 plans of the property of Edward Burd and Jonathan Dickinson; 17 letters of Colonel James Burd and Edward Burd, 1765-1823; 16 letters and documents of Edward S. Burd, 1801-1847; 21 bills and receipts of Edward S. Burd, 1806-1847; 26 bills and memoranda of Edward S. Burd when he was in Paris, 1839-1841; Edward S. Burd's receipt book for taxes, mortgages, etc., 1823- 1833; 15 documents relating to the estate of Edward Burd of Scotland, 1765-1773; plans and abstracts of titles to land owned by Edward Burd, 1814-1820; and Mrs. Edward S. Burd's cook book and medicinal recipe book, c. 1812. Among the other manuscripts given by Mr. Gillingham are: 34 bills of Daniel W. Coxe, 1819-1843; 7 documents from the papers of William and James Allen; 72 items from the papers of Eli Kirk Price; 32 school and educational bills, 1820-1867; 15 letters and documents of William Meredith; 17 items from the Samuel Franklin papers; 4 documents of William Tilghman; 199 papers of John Gill, Jr., Gill and Ferguson and Thomas Campbell, 1816- 1841; 40 bills, receipts, and accounts of Physick, Conner and Dorsey; 80 documents relating to the Asylum Company, 1800-183 3; 21 papers of Andrew Clow and Co., 1784-1789; 87 bills of lading for the Adriana, 1793, Liverpool to Philadelphia; and about 180 other manuscripts of a miscellaneous nature. From Mr. Charles F. Jenkins the Society has received 61 manuscripts, among which are deeds, briefs of title, genealogical notes of the Spencer and Bonsall families, surveys, a road jury report, 1770, letters, clippings relating to the Credit Mobilier affair, and several pieces of paper money.

CORRECTION The handwriting of "An Unpublished Washington Document from the Bouquet Papers," PENNSYLVANIA MAGAZINE OF HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY, LXI (1937). 204-13, has been indentified by Dr. John C. Fitzpatrick, well- known authority on Washington, as that of Adam Stephen. This identification has been confirmed by Mr. Emory F. Hanaburgh, Americana expert of the American Art Association, . Professor E. Douglas Branch, editor of the document, accepts the correction. Stephen was Washington's junior officer and close associate in the Virginia service.