Rare Treats: Special Selections from our Rare Books Collection

In honor of MNHP's 90th Anniversary, Cultural Resources staff have selected five rare books that represent the breadth and specialization of our collection. These books are presently on exhibit at the George Washington Headquarters Museum and may be viewed during normal visiting hours. This blog post contains expanded information for our guests who want to know more about the books on display, or online visitors to our blog who are interested but unable to visit. 

Featured Object: Phillis Wheatley’s Poems on Various Subjects (1773), signed by the author

Phillis Wheatley was an enslaved poet who lived in Boston during the late 18^th century, who is perhaps best known for being the first African American to publish a book and the second American woman to publish a book of poetry. Her life was exceptional in many ways, but her origins reflect a commonality of experience with many enslaved people of African origins: when she was a small child, she was sold into the slave trade and brought to Massachusetts in 1761. Though it is likely that she was from West Africa, her precise origins are unknown, as well as her birthdate, and the name she was born with. She was purchased as human property at a slave market in Boston by Susanna and John Wheatley. Her exact date of birth is unknown, but she was presumed to be about seven years old when sold into slavery. By the time she was 12, in the Wheatley household, she was reading Greek and Latin and studying the Bible. Her literacy was uncommon for someone of her enslaved status, although literacy was widespread in New England at that time. It is likely that she was tutored by the Wheatley children. She wrote her first poetry around age 13 and was known internationally for her work by the time she was 17.

The Wheatleys recognized her intelligence and encouraged her religious conversion and education and saw in her an opportunity to demonstrate their own charity and piety. They routinely paraded Phillis in front of their peers and she was treated as a novelty by New England high-society and literati. Despite her unusual status education, it is important to remember that Wheatley remained enslaved as a child and young adult. She was mostly removed from hard labor, but she was still beholden to the Wheatley family as a servant and did not enjoy the rights and privileges of a free person. Although she often socialized with other bright and educated people of her time, she was rarely allowed to sit at the same table or befriend them as equals. She was also restricted from forming close relationships with the other enslaved people in the Wheatley household and the local black communities of Boston.

Wheatley was raised in the vibrant New England religious community and was fervently religious herself. Indeed, many of her writings deal with subjects relating to her Christian faith. Wheatley was also influenced by her readings of the Classics and incorporated themes related to Ancient Greece and Rome into her works. Her poetry also offered commentary on race, slavery, and freedom. Wheatley recognized that she had a unique opportunity to address a powerful white audience and, using the rhetoric of her faith, reminded them of the humanity of African people. She also employed the language of the Revolution to engage with the increasingly challenged place of slavery in the fight for independence and hoped to convince the powers of the day that preserving a slave state contradicted their desire for freedom from Britain. Her writings addressed these subjects broadly but were sometimes directed to specific individuals, including both George Washington and King George III. Her poetry was an important act of resistance that delivered a direct challenge to an oppressive system.

By the early 1770s, Wheatley had compiled a collection of her poems for publication, but she was unable to find a publisher in North America that would accept her work. With the support of the Wheatleys she travelled to London to appeal to publishers there. In London she was fêted as a celebrated author and invited to meetings and parties with many prominent people. According to one story she was even invited to meet King George III but departed before any meeting could take place. She eventually found a sponsor in Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon, who subsidized the publication of her book. After her poems were published in November 1773, she was manumitted by the Wheatley family.

Not much is known about her adult life as a free person of color. The Revolutionary War disrupted her network of benefactors and subscribers which prevented her from publishing a second volume, although several of her later poems were published in newspapers and pamphlets. She did not receive financial support from John and Susanna Wheatley, who died within two years of her emancipation, and Wheatley worked as a scullery maid to support herself and her young family. She had a husband named John Peters and they had several children that passed away. By 1784, however, Wheatley died at the age of 31.

Although she died tragically early, Wheatley’s impact reverberated across her own time and for many decades hence. In her own time, Wheatley’s writing was held up as an example of black intellectual equality and inspiration for other early African American authors. In the decades and centuries after her death, she became a symbol for the causes of emancipation, civil rights, and women’s equality. Wheatley continues to be celebrated as a pioneering author, with monuments, schools, and libraries named after her around the globe.

For more information and a full bibliography, please refer to our post here: Morristown National Historical Park Museum and Library: Treasures From the Vault: Phillis Wheatley (morristownnhpmuseum.blogspot.com)

Featured Object: A Young George Washington’s Accounts, 1747 - 1749

George Washington was born in 1732 in Popes Creek, Virginia to Augustine and Mary Ball Washington. By the 18^th century, the Washington family were well-established planters in Virginia. The Washington family was large by today’s standards: Augustine Washington had four children by his first wife, Jane Butler, and two more by second, Mary Ball. Augustine sent his eldest sons to the Appleby Grammar School in England to receive a classical, Latin-based education that befitted young men of their social class. However, George Washington did not receive the same education that his older brothers did. The unexpected death of Augustine Washington prevented George from completing his education in a formal manner. Instead, Washington continued his education for a time at a local parish school and by means of private tutors. By the time Washington was a teenager, he was fully literate and completing exercises in advanced geometry, as well as writing, basic legal forms, and social etiquette.
[i][ii]

Augustine Washington owned several farms and, upon his death, willed one of them to George, along with ten enslaved workers. At this time, Washington was only eleven years old and could not fully inherit the farm until age twenty-one.  In the meantime, however, he began the training necessary to assume control of the property when he was of age. The document displayed here is George Washington’s personal account book from this period, dating roughly from 1747 – 1749 (age 15 – 17), and contains lists of his expenses, credits, and debits. These ledgers document how Washington used the inheritance from his father and demonstrates the teenage Washington’s practical experience managing an estate. The book overlaps his early training as a surveyor and gives a sliver of insight into the things that Washington enjoyed as a young man – the page displayed here notes a  reimbursement paid to his mother for dancing lessons that she had bought on his behalf. Washington was known for his skill and fondness for dancing well into his adulthood, a skill he would have nurtured during this time of his life. This artifact is among Washington’s earliest surviving manuscripts and a rare example of his childhood writing, alongside some school copy books dated 1745 and a diary dated 1748. 

Featured Object: Poor Richard’s Almanack (1754)

Benjamin Franklin was an American-born printer, author, inventor, scientist, and diplomat. He ranks among the most well-known of our Founding Fathers for his role in writing the Declaration of Independence, his ambassadorship to France during the Revolution, his scientific experiments and engineering, and his spirited wit and humor. Among the many accomplishments of Franklin’s life, and perhaps one of his proudest, was his skill as a printer. He learned the trade from his brother James at age 12, obtained a mastery by 1723, and continued in the profession for the rest of his life. Franklin recognized that being a skilled writer was an asset his society and persistently practiced writing prose at the same time he worked as an apprentice in Boston.[iii]

He began publishing his first weekly newspaper in 1721, in which he published a series of satirical articles under the name “Silence Dogood.” Franklin would spend the next nine years experimenting in the trades of printing and bookselling before becoming the sole proprietor of a Philadelphia printshop in 1730. Franklin famously printed the Pennsylvania Gazette during this time but Franklin’s other publication, Poor Richard’s Almanack, that is one of his most enduring legacies. Poor Richard’s Almanack was published annually from 1732 – 1757. Franklin’s almanac went on to become the most popular secular literature in the colonies.[iv] [in]

An almanac is a book or table that contains an assortment of information: calendars, astronomical data, climate data, and many types of suggestions for its readers. Many almanacs are specifically designed to provide advice to farmers, often giving information about the rising and setting times of the sun and moon, long-range weather forecasts, and advice for planting. Almanacs have a long history, beginning the 15th century and many continue to be published today. Early almanacs devoted a great deal of space to astrology and prophecies but, by the 18th century, they began to incorporate scientific data about weather and planting, as well as medical advice, household tips, recipes, religious ponderings, proverbs, as well as jokes, puzzles, and short works of fiction. [vi] [vii]

Poor Richard’s Almanack was much like the other almanacs of the time, although its popularity was enhanced by Franklin’s extensive wordplay and sense of humor. The “Poor Richard” of Poor Richard’s almanac was a penname and character invented by Franklin.  Poor Richard, or Richard Saunders, began comedically as an incompetent astrologer who needed to raise money to appease a nagging wife. However, the character would transform into a more serious persona that provided pragmatic advice about business, thriftiness, and simplicity. The almanac also provided a platform for Franklin to discuss his interests in science, innovation, and public life. Although the almanac was not a great political document or philosophical treatise, it reflects the cultural mores of colonial North America and articulates the precepts of early capitalism. The almanac’s American vernacular, witty humor, and homely wisdom made it a success with the public and it had a successful run under Franklin’s ownership for 25 years. The legacy of Poor Richard’s Almanack is expansive: it provided the format that many modern almanacs continue to use and many of Franklin’s proverbs and turns-of-phrase remain popular in American English.[viii]

Featured Object: The Declaration of the Causes and Necessity for Taking Up Arms (1775)

The Declaration of Independence, signed July 1776, is one of our most important founding documents and the most well-known address made by Congress during the American Revolution. However, the Declaration of Independence was not the only document of its kind. The Declaration of the Causes and Necessity for Taking Up Arms is one such document. The Declaration for Taking Up Arms was part of a pair of resolutions adopted by Congress. The other was the Olive Branch Petition. Signed just one day prior to the Declaration of Taking Up Arms, the Olive Branch Petition was North America’s final effort to reconcile with Great Britain and end the fighting. In it, the Continental Congress asked the King to intervene on their behalf to Parliament, and to encourage the repeal of restrictive statues and regulations. The Olive Branch Petition was not received well by the Crown, however, and the Declaration for Taking Up Arms was passed a day later to justify the military actions of the colonies against British troops. The document is attributed to a combination of the efforts of Thomas Jefferson and John Dickinson, although there has been considerable debate over which of these two can be considered the true author. [ix][x]

The Olive Branch Petition was conciliatory, but the Declaration was a threat: if the complaints of the Continental Congress were not resolved, then they would consequently seek independence. Complaints listed in the document include taxation without representation, juryless courts that removed local legal jurisdiction, the Coercive Acts, and the Declaratory Act. The Declaration of Taking Up Arms articulates the frustration of the Americans, who had petitioned the British governing bodies for representation and redress of their grievances for a decade. Besides being an opportunity to formally list their grievances, the Declaration was also a cleverly constructed channel to allow both sides to back out of a rapidly escalating war. It was an opportunity for reconciliation for both sides, while asserting the strength of the American position. Reconciliation was an outcome hoped for by many Americans and members of the Continental Congress, but by this point was increasingly unlikely.[xi]

The document frames the colonists as loyal British subjects, willing to submit to the Crown, but who were protesting in defense of the rights guaranteed to them by the British constitution (then, as now, a set of written and unwritten documents that outline their rights and privileges). This gives readers a clear view of how the colonists thought of themselves in relation to the empire in the early days of the Revolution, revealing an identity that was still rooted in their status as British subjects but quickly moving towards a distinct American sensibility.

A year later, the Second Continental Congress would go on to formally declare independence from Britain. By then, a radical transformation in self-definition had taken place: Unlike the Olive Branch Petition and Declaration of Taking Up Arms, which framed Congress as representatives of the twelve colonies, the Declaration of Independence referred to the United States of America. The confident rhetoric of the Declaration of Independence should be read as part of a constellation of other documents that, besides illustrating the Revolutionary political ideology, also reveals a society undergoing a radical and chaotic cultural transformation under the threat of war.[xii]

Featured Object: Notes on the State of Virginia (1797), Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson was a Virginia-born planter, statesman, and president who is best known for his role in the founding of the United States and authorship of several important documents that include the Declaration of Independence. Notes on the State of Virginia is one of two books published by Jefferson during his lifetime and considered by some to be among the most important American books of the 18^th century. The book was born from the request of the French diplomat François Barbé-Marbois, the secretary of the French legation in Philadelphia. In 1780, Marbois requested detailed information about the history, geography, economy, and culture of each respective state. The Virginia delegate to the Continental Congress passed this request on to Jefferson, who was the governor. Jefferson completed an early version and sent it to Marbois in 1782, but on the heels of political controversy and personal tragedy, Jefferson threw himself into revising and expanding the volume.[xiii]

Notes on the State of Virginia contained a variety of historical, ecological, and sociological data, alongside Jefferson’s own discourses on government, freedom, race, and slavery. Jefferson’s commentary on the natural world was as much a response to criticisms of American flora and fauna as it was a compendium of Virginia’s natural resources. Europe’s foremost naturalist, the Georges-Louis Leclerc, described life in North America as “degenerate,” that all the flora and fauna were smaller, weaker, and “shriveled and diminished” compared to those of the “Old World.” Jefferson, along with other members of the founding generation, was outraged by claims of New World inferiority. He dedicated the longest chapter of the book (“Production, Mineral, Vegetable, and Animal”) to the project of disproving Leclerc. To aid in this, Jefferson also collected large game specimens (elk, moose, etc) in order prove his own claims.[xiv] [xv]

Jefferson took many opportunities in Notes on the State of Virginia to offer broad commentary on subjects beyond the scope of the original queries. He commented on the issue of religious freedom and defended the separation of church and state, clearly stating his belief that the government occupies a secular role. He also believed that religion should be a private matter and exempt from government supervision or interference. He wrote, “… it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods, or no god… it neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.” 

[xvii]

Notes on the State of Virginia also contains some of Jefferson’s most infamous discourses on race and slavery. Jefferson’s views on race and slavery were aligned with many 18^th century intellectuals in Europe and North America in that he believed that people of African descent were inferior to Europeans. In Notes on the State of Virginia, Jefferson very explicitly stated these views, although he questioned whether the inferiorities he perceived were due to inherent racial inferiority or the prolonged degrading conditions of enslavement. He wrote:

“Deep rooted prejudices entertained by the whites; ten thousand recollections, by the blacks, of the injuries they have sustained ... will divide us into parties, and produce convulsions, which will probably never end but in the extermination of one or the other race.”

Jefferson acknowledged that the continued institution of slavery was incompatible with republicanism but expressed doubts that the gulf between enslaver and enslaved could ever be bridged. Jefferson also believed that enslavers and the enslaved constituted two “separate nations” that would never be able to coexist peacefully due to the alienation caused by the violence of slavery. Jefferson's proposed solution was, if slavery was abolished, that formerly enslaved people would have to leave the state – perhaps even the country – instead of becoming full citizens [xvi][xvii]

 Just a few years after submitting his original response to Marbois, the draft for Notes had tripled in size. Domestic printing was too expensive and instead Jefferson took his manuscript to printer in Paris. The first 200 copies were printed in 1785 in Paris. Although a French translation was published, Jefferson was displeased with the result and an approved version was published in England in 1787. He made many revisions in his personal copy over the course of his life, with a final revised edition published by a family member in 1853.[xviii] Notes on the State of Virginia stirred a bit of controversy during Jefferson’s own time: many of his statements on religion were used against him in political campaigns that leveled accusations of atheism, and his statements on slavery were viewed to fall outside of the status quo. Abolitionists also used Jefferson’s writing as a basis to dispute his notions of racial inferiority. Portions of Notes would also go on to be reproduced texts about American environment and geography for many years to come.

Ultimately, this text is a multivalent document that demonstrates the philosophy and scientific spirit of the American Enlightenment while also embodying the flawed outlooks of the Founding generation. Like many of our founding documents and 18th century literature, it continues to invite modern Americans to reflect on the historical legacy of our Founders and the reverberating impact of racism and slavery in American society.

 

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[i] “Education,” George Washington’s Mount Vernon, Education · George Washington's Mount Vernon

[ii] “George Washington’s Life Washington’s Mount Vernon, George Washington's Life · George Washington's Mount Vernon.

[iii] Gordon S. Wood and Theodore Hornberger, “Benjamin Franklin,” Encyclopedia Britannica, Benjamin Franklin | Britannica.

[iv] Ibid.

[in] Benjamin Franklin House, Timeline, Franklin Timeline - Benjamin Franklin House.

[vi] “Almanac,” Encyclopedia Britannica, Almanac | Britannica.

[vii]  “Poor Richard,” Encyclopedia Britannica, Poor Richard | Britannica.

[viii] Gordon S. Wood and Theodore Hornberger, “Benjamin Franklin,” Encyclopedia Britannica.

[ix] Founders Online, Editorial Note on The Declaration of the Causes and Necessity for Taking Up Arms, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-01-02-0113-0001.

[x] Mark Boonshoft, The Olive Branch and the Declaration of Independence (New York Public Library, 2015), https://www.nypl.org/blog/2015/06/30/olive-branch-petition.

[xi] Robert M.S. McDonald, Introduction to the Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms, https://teachingamericanhistory.org/document/declaration-of-the-causes-and-necessity-of-taking-up-arms/.

[xii] Mark Boonshoft, “The Olive Branch and the Declaration of Independence.”

[xiii][xiii] Encyclopedia Virginia, Entry: “Notes on the State of Virginia (1785),” https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/notes-on-the-state-of-virginia-1785/.

[xiv] Encyclopedia Virginia, ibid.

[xv] Lee Alan Dugatkin, “Buffon, Jefferson, and the Theory of New World Degeneracy,” Evolution: Education and Outreach 12.15 (2019), 4-8.

[xvi] Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, “The Life of Sally Hemings,” Sally Hemings | Thomas Jefferson's Monticello.

[xvii] David Tucker, “Introduction to Notes on the State of Virginia, Queries 14 and 18,” Notes on the State of Virginia: Queries 14 and 18 | Teaching American History.

[xviii] Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, “Notes on the State of Virginia,” Notes on the State of Virginia | Thomas Jefferson's Monticello.