[Rarebooks] fa: 1781 Gentleman's Magazine: BATTLE OF COWPENS + BENEDICT ARNOLD + FRANKLIN STOVE

[ArCh]

Auction ending Sunday, October 23. No reserve. Images and more details can be found at the URL below or by searching for the seller name arch_in_la. 

https://tinyurl.com/mr33vxca

Thanks again,
Ardwight Chamberlain
Ann Arbor, MI, USA


The Gentleman's Magazine, and Historical Chronicle. Volume LI [51]. For the Year MDCCLXXXI [1781]. London: Printed by J. Nichols, for D. Henry, [1781]. Twelve monthly issues (Jan.-Dec.) plus the supplement, volume title, indices and preface. Thick 8vo in early/period calf-backed marbled boards, gilt-lettered morocco spine label; iv + 633 + [15] pp.; with in-text charts and tables, woodcut illustrations, plus 15 copper-engraved plates and maps, seven of which are folding (complete).

With extensive contemporary coverage of events related to the AMERICAN WAR OF INDEPENDENCE, including:
	- Proceedings of the British Army in Virginia: "An account… of the proceedings of the detachment sent by Gen. Clinton to Virginia under the command of Brig. Gen. [BENEDICT] ARNOLD..."
	- Extract of a Letter from Brig. Gen. Arnold to Sir H. Clinton… sent from New York, May 18; Copy of a Letter from Brig. Gen. Arnold to his Excellency the Commander in Chief, dated Sound off Plumb Island, Sept. 8, 1781.
	- Several accounts of the BATTLE OF COWPENS ("the unfortunate affair of the 17th January, between Col. Tarleton and Gen. Morgan").
	- Lengthy summaries of dispatches from Gen. Cornwallis. Lord Rawdon, and others re. events in the Carolinas, Virginia, etc.
	- A Plan for putting an End to the American War, and for laying the Foundations of a permanent Peace with the Thirteen Colonies.
	- List of the Men killed or disabled in the War.
	- Proclamation published by Gen. [Nathanael] Green.
	- Gen. Washington's letter to the President of Congress on the surrender of the British army under Lord Cornwallis.
	- A folding Plan of PORT PRAYA [Porto Praia], in the Island of St. Jago [Santiago, Cape Verde], with the Situation of the English and French Fleets, accompanied by a detailed Account by Commodore George Johnstone of his Engagement with the French fleet (this is proceeded in an earlier issue by an Account of Port Praya from Capt. Cook's Voyage of 1777).
	- Sections devoted to AMERICAN NEWS and a monthly HISTORICAL CHRONICLE, which together provide an often day-by-day account of events:
		- Jan. 31. "…the war in America becomes every day more bloody than ever. A party of rebels having attacked the town of Augusta in Georgia… was in the end defeated; and of 12 prisoners which fell into the hands of the King's troops, 11 were hang'd without trial…"
		- Saturday 17. "…dispatches confirm the defeat of Major Ferguson… on King's Mountain; they likewise give an account of the defeat of the rebel Gen. Sumpter…"
		- Tuesday 20. "…dispatches from Sir Henry Clinton… bring confirmation of the revolt of the Pennsylvania line from General Washington's army…"
		- Feb. 25. "The American John Adams, Esq. opened a loan for a million of florins at Amsterdam…"
		- Saturday, 14. "…in this dispatch were two intercepted letters from Gen. Washington to the Marquis de la Fayette…"
		- Oct. 11. "The American privateer brig, called the Wexford, of 20 twelve-pounders and 120 men, was captured on the 1st instant…"
		- Nov. 1. "General Arnold published a manifesto, declaring his reasons for joining the king's standard…"
		- "By an authentic account, published by order of Congress, a very bloody engagement happened in South Carolina on the 8th of September, between the English Army and that of Gen. Green [the Battle of Eutaw Springs]…"
	- Etc., etc.

Other topics and features of note include:
	- FRANKLIN STOVES: a folding plate of "Four American Stoves, invented by [Benjamin] Franklin and improved by Sharp," accompanied by a Description of the Pensylvanian[sic] Fire-Places.
	- A Plagiarism of Dr. Franklin.
	- A Letter concerning a Tribe of Welch Indians in America.
	- Punic Inscriptions in the Western Boundaries of Canada ("from which it may be conjectured that N. America was formerly inhabited by a nation… more civilized than that which the Europeans found on their arrival here…").
	- EGYPTIAN HIEROGLYPHS: a folding Plan of the Bird Pit, near Cairo, and a representation of the Figures and Hieroglyphics carried at the entrance; accompanied by a lengthy essay by the Duke of Chaulnes, F.R.S., "Observations on the real Entrance of the Egyptian Monument… near Saccara… Of the Hieroglyphic Language of the Egyptians… Burying-place of the Sacred Animals, and the Well leading to it… Method of taking off Egyptian Hieroglyphics…" Elsewhere, there is a related article: "Curious Hieroglyphics in The British Museum, and at Oxford," illustrated with a woodcut.
	- An important early account of the DEATH OF CAPTAIN COOK, in a lengthy two-part review of Journal of Captain Cook's last Voyage to the Pacific Ocean, on Discovery...
	- THE GORDON RIOTS: including Minutes of the Trial of Lord George Gordon (multi-part, over several issues); etc.
	- Dr. Lindsay's new Theory of WATER-SPOUTS, accompanied by a handsome folding plate.
	- POETICAL FORGERIES. Several articles on the two great literary controversies of the time: Enquiry into the Authenticity of the Poems ascribed to Ossian; Observations on the Poems attributed to Thomas Rowley; A Query on Chatterton; Modern Imitations in Rowley; etc.
	- Other PLATES include: a folding Plan for a Road to avoid Highgate Hill; Pompey's Pillar in Alexandria; Masks of Roman Actors; View of the Bridge at Alcantra, Spain (folding); a Roman Altar found at Doncaster; several plates of medals and coins, including Chines Money, or Cash; etc.
	- A Narrative of the Voyage of five Vessels belonging to the East India fleet, from China to the Cape of Good Hope.
	- Remarks on Capt. Phipps's Tables of Longitude.
	- Minutes of the Trial of John Donellan, Esq., for the Murder of Sir Theodosius Boughton (arsenic poisoning).
	- Narrative of the Trial of M. de la Motte (for treason).
	- A complete List of the present Members of the Antiquarian Society.
	- Remarks on the Rage of the Ladies for Military Dress.
	- Monthly lists of births, deaths, bankrupts, murders, prices of grain, etc.
	- And much more…

Binding with rubbing and wear, bumping to the corners, chipping to the spine head, some cracking to the joints but both boards are secure; contents with occasional browning and light spotting to the text leaves and a few of the plates, otherwise quite clean and sound, firmly bound. Front paste-down with the bookplate of Marius Nielsen (engraved by Johannes Britze).