The American Museum or Repository of Ancient and Modern Fugitive Pieces, &c. Prose and Poetical . . . [title changed to The American Museum, or, Universal Magazine in January 1790]. Vols. I-XII

CAREY, Mathew (1760-1839, Editor, Publisher)

Published by Mathew Carey; Carey, Stewart, and Co. No. 188 Market-street, Philadelphia, 1798

About this Item

(8 x 4 3/4 inches). Volume collations below. Contemporary tree sheep, each volume tastefully rebacked preserving original spines in six compartments ruled gilt with red morocco lettering-pieces in second compartments with the volume number in fourth compartments. Volumes numbered in contemporary ink manuscript on front pastedowns. A complete copy of America's first literary magazine, including early printings of the US Constitution, the Bill of Rights, various State constitutions, Alexander Hamilton's Report on Manufactures, and parts of the Federalist Papers. Rarely encountered complete, this set with Franklin's Chart of the Gulf Stream and the sought-after folding plate of the slave ship Brooks, an indelible abolitionist image crystallizing the horrors of the Middle Passage. "That it had considerable merit is universally acknowledged; and there is no vanity in the declaration." - Mathew Carey A complete run of the seminal American magazine the American Museum. Its highlights include the second American edition of Benjamin Franklin's Chart of the Gulf Stream; letters from the Federalist Papers; the first serial printing of the US Constitution; a printing of the proposed Bill of Rights; excerpts of Thomas Paine's "Common Sense"; and the first American printing of the iconic plan of the slave ship Brooks, "among the most effective propaganda any social movement has ever created." (Rediker) The Brooks folding plate depicts cross-sections of the ship with hundreds of shackled Africans on their way to the Americas. Indeed, slavery is discussed throughout the American Museum, with essays on the education of African-American children, the Haitian Revolution, and Benjamin Franklin's essay "An Address to the Public, from the Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery, and the Relief of Free Negroes, Unlawfully Held in Bondage." As usual this set is a mixed edition. The first eleven volumes are each bound with rarely seen 1798 collective title pages, issued in 1799 as explained by Carey: "Complete sets of the former American Museum, in twelve octavo volumes, from January, 1787, till December, 1792, may be had of the Publisher hereof, and of Charles Debret, London. Any numbers or volumes may be had to complete sets." Volumes I-III are of mixed second and third editions, while Volumes IV-XII are of first editions. Reference works speak to this: "Complete sets with all volumes and plates are extremely scarce. A number of the issues were reprinted, and sets when found are generally mixtures of printings." (Federal Hundred) This is especially true given the great value of the Brooks slave ship engraving, which usually causes it to be absent. The magazine was a pioneering effort on the part of its publisher and editor, Mathew Carey, to develop and promote an indigenous American literary culture. Carey founded the American Museum using a $400 loan from none other than the Marquis de la Fayette, who received a dedication leaf in Volume II. During its publication, Carey printed 72 monthly issues from January 1787 through December 1792, bound later by Carey into twelve volumes. Carey's original editorial goal was to cull the best essays on political, economic, and cultural subjects, as well as poetry and prose, and offer it to a national audience. American Museum was the "one magazine [that] reprinted some of the essays outside of New York City." (Concise Guide) A favorable opinion of the American Museum from George Washington, who said a "more useful literary plan had never been undertaken in America," is reprinted on the verso of each collective title and originally in Volume IV, which enhanced the magazine's reputation. (Sabin) The American Museum became the first resort for governmental information, including the proceedings of Congress, texts of state constitutions, treaties with foreign countries, and international affairs. Carey cast a wide net in soliciting writers and topics for his periodical. Among the "most eminent w.

Seller Inventory # 41737

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The American Museum or Repository of Ancient and Modern Fugitive Pieces, &c. Prose and Poetical . . . [title changed to The American Museum, or, Universal Magazine in January 1790]. Vols. I-XII
• Publisher: Mathew Carey; Carey, Stewart, and Co. No. 188 Market-street, Philadelphia
• Publication Date: 1798
• Binding: Soft cover
• Seller catalogs:
  • Americana & Canadiana