[Rarebooks] fa: 1756 Gentleman's Magazine FRENCH & INDIAN WAR + ADMIRAL BYNG + HALLEY'S COMET &c.

[Ardwight Chamberlain]

Listed now, auction ending Sunday, March 10. More details and images can be found at the URL below or by searching under the seller name arch_in_la.

http://tinyurl.com/k58soof

Thanks for looking,
Ardwight Chamberlain
L.A.


The Gentleman's Magazine, and Historical Chronicle. Volume XXVI [26]. For the Year MDCCLVI [1756]. London: Printed for D. Henry, and R. Cave, at St. John's Gate, [1756]. Twelve monthly issues (Jan.-Dec.), plus the supplement, volume title, indices and preface. Thick 8vo in full period calf; [4] + 626 + [16] pp.; with numerous in-text charts and tables, woodcut diagrams and illustrations, musical notation, plus 13 copper-engraved plates and maps, two of which are folding.

With extensive contemporary coverage of the FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR (Seven Years' War), especially as it played out in the AMERICAS, including:
	- New Forts in America.
	- Disputes between Georgia and Carolina.
	- Several articles on events in Pennsylvania: Disputes between the Pensylvanians [sic]and their Governor; First Militia Act in Pensylvania; Dialogue on the Militia Bill passed in Pensylvania; etc.
	- A full-page Table of the Names of several Indian Nations (Mohawks, Delawares, Shawanose, etc.). Elsewhere in the volume there is a lengthy précis and review of An Account of Conferences held between Gen Johnson and the Chiefs of several Indian Nations, which includes a definition of "Wampum" and a list of the French and English names for the various tribes.
	- An engraving of an "American Indian Warrior's [Scarroyada] Record of his Exploits, written by himself in hieroglyphical characters."
	- A Complete List [of the Ships] of the Royal Navy of Great-Britain.
	- Hostilities first committed by the French; Seizure of French Ships justified.
	- On the Conduct of the French in America; Horrid Instances of French Cruelty; etc.
	- A short View of the Contest concerning the Limits of Nova Scotia, or Acadia, extracted from the Memorials of the English and French Commissaries.
	- Ancient Maps prove our Right to Acadia.
	- Declaration of War against France.
	- The Duke of Cumberland's Instructions to Gen. Braddock (relating to the disastrous Ohio expedition in which the young George Washington played a part).
	- Articles of Capitulation proposed by Lieutenant General Blakeney, for his Britannick Majesty's Garrison of the Castle of St. Philip's, in the Island of Minorca (with an engraved portrait of  Blakeney).
	- A New Account of a remarkable Sea Engagement (between the Colchester and Lyme and two French men-of-war).
	- French Account of the Taking of Oswego (Fort Oswego, in New York); etc.

Other topics and features of note include:
	- HALLEY'S COMET: Hally [sic] and Newton on the Comet expected to appear in 1758; Arguments proving the periodical Return of a Comet; Precepts to determine the Course of the Comet (with a table and an engraved diagram); etc.
	- ELECTRICITY & BENJAMIN FRANKLIN: Two separate articles on subjects dear to Franklin's heart. The first, "Strange Effects of Lightning in Maryland," describes a lightning rod and is illustrated with a woodcut; it begins: "As your readers are well acquainted with Mr. Franklyn's [sic] system of electricity…" The second article, which describes some "Electrical Experiments made with a Paper Kite raised to a very considerable Height in the Air. By M. de Romas," mentions a similar if "less extraordinary" experiment conducted by "Mr. Franklin…in Pensylvania." Also to be found is "The Artificial Kite, An Heroic-Comic Poem in Three Cantos" continued over three issues.
	- ADMIRAL JOHN BYNG (court-martialed and ultimately executed, in 1757, for the loss of Minorca): Ld. Barrington's private Letter to Gen. Fowke, Gen. Fowke's to Ld. Barrington, and Ld. Anson's to Adm. Byng; Farther Particulars of Byng's Conduct; Admiral Byng's Defence of his Conduct; A List of the Fleets under the Command of Adm. Byng and M. Galissonniere; Perfidy to be suspected in the Loss of Minorca; Trial of Admiral Byng; etc.
	- EARTHQUAKES. Numerous articles on what was a popular topic in the wake of the Lisbon Earthquake of 1755: New Phenomena attending the Earthquake in Lisbon; Two remarkable examples of destructive Earthquakes; Physico-mechanical Conjectures concerning Earthquakes; New Hypothesis concerning Earthquakes; etc.
	- A large FOLDING PLAN OF THE FORT AND HARBOUR OF GERIAH on the Coast of Malabar (tears at the right margin), accompanied by a 4-page "Account of Angria, the Pirate, and the taking of Geriah by Commodore Watson."
	- Other plates include a folding map of Spain and Portugal (some creases and light soiling); three plates of shells; and two plates of "marine plants."
	- The History of Gambling, by Mr. Justice Fielding (a 3-page treatise by John Fielding, brother of Henry Fielding).
	- Some Account of Alex. Thompson, who was executed for not surrendering himself, pursuant to Notice given in the London Gazette, after being declared a Bankrupt.
	- Account of the Porcupine Man and his Son.
	- And much more...