Sep 30, 2010 - Sale 2223

Sale 2223 - Lot 85

Price Realized: $ 2,160
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 1,200 - $ 1,800
(ENCYCLOPEDIA.) Encyclopædia; or, A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and Miscellaneous Literature with 3-volume Supplement. 594 (of 595) numbered plates including maps, frontispiece, 3 folding tables. 21 volumes. 4to, uniform contemporary calf, moderate wear, spine labels chipped, 2 covers detached; some hinges split, moderate foxing and toning. Philadelphia, [1790]-1803
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the first encyclopedia published in america. The work was printed on American-made paper with a new set of type. The text is largely derived from the third edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, though it does include some original submissions by Americans, including an 87-page article on America by Jedidiah Morse. The article on Quakers features a vicious attack on founder George Fox ("one of the most extravagant and absurd enthusiasts that ever lived"), which may have played well in England, but the Philadelphia publisher was prevailed upon to append a 4-page rebuttal from a local Quaker committee, found here at the end of Volume XV.
The plates cover natural history, geography, science, engineering and more. The anatomical plates constitute the earliest such illustrations produced in America; most of these were by Robert Scot, first engraver of the United States Mint. The title pages to each volume (except the Supplement) carry the date 1798, as they were issued after the final volume had been published.
"From various causes, chief among which were, its irregular manner of publication, and the period of years required in its printing, copies of the work are uncommonly found even in the older and larger libraries, and all have some peculiarities or defects. . . . When the risks of publication are considered, the courageous and admirable manner in which the publisher carried out the work to a conclusion, gives the name of Thomas Dobson, of Philadelphia, a high rank in the book-publishing annals of this country"--Evans 22486; see also 33676-33693. Sabin 22555.