Joel Munsell: Printer and Antiquarian 9780231884938

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STUDIES IN HISTORY, ECONOMICS AND PUBLIC LAW Edited by the FACULTY OF POLITICAL SCIENCE OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY

NUMBER 5 6 0

JOEL MUNSELL: PRINTER AND ANTIQUARIAN BY DAVID S. EDELSTEIN

JOEL MUNSELL: PRINTER AND ANTIQUARIAN BY

DAVID S. EDELSTEIN

AMS PRESS, INC. NEW YORK 1967

Copyright 1950, Columbia University P r e s s New York

Reprinted 1967 with permission of Columbia University Press

AMS P R E S S , INC. New York, N.Y. 10003

Manufactured in the United S t a t e s of A m e r i c a

So CLARA and WILLIAM EDELSTEIN

FOREWORD DURING the last half century American historians have enormously broadened the scope of their interests until today almost every aspect of life has been brought within their purview. The Freemanesque conception of history as " past politics so prevalent during the nineteenth century, has given way to the history of civilization in its totality. N o longer are our historians concerned only with political and institutional history. Increasingly they have come to think of history as did the late James Harvey Robinson as " all that we know about everything that man has ever done or thought or hoped or felt." A n d increasingly, too, they have given scholarly attention to almost every aspect of our culture. Since 1927 when the History of American Life under the editorship of Dixon R y a n F o x and Arthur M. Schlesinger began to appear, interest in cultural and intellectual history, both local and national, has grown apace. Joel Munsell: Printer and Antiquarian constitutes a valuable addition to this growing literature of American intellectual history broadly concerned. Within the covers of this b o o k — in a single package, if you please—we have the biography of an interesting personage. Like so many other Americans in his own day, and before and since, he rose from humble boyhood environment to eminence as a citizen of his adopted community. In these pages we have the story not only of an author, publisher, antiquarian and collector and seller of books but the narrative of a successful printing establishment in an age of keen competition. Trained in the best techniques of historical scholarship, Dr. Edelstein has explored a wealth of material relating to Joel Munsell. The results of his labors are definitive. Not only has he resurrected Munsell, who was the outstanding printer of mid-nineteenth century America, but he has given us insights into the business methods, cultural interests, ethical standards 7

8

FOREWORD

and behavior and other features of the American scene during Munsell's lifetime. One may hazard the guess that Munsell deserves a much higher rating in the annals of history than many of his contemporaries who turned to a political career and were, therefore, more in the public limelight. HARRY J.

CARMAN,

Dean of Columbia College

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS W H I L E I was serving as a member of the history department of the New York School of Printing, I was asked to teach the history of the recorded word, including the history of printing. Under the influence of J. Henry Holloway, principal of the school, who made every effort to orient his teachers of academic subjects in the field of typography, and as a result of my teaching, I enrolled in Professor Hellmut Lehmann-Haupt's courses in the history of books and printing at Columbia University. Fired by his enthusiasm, and at his suggestion, I undertook this study of Joel Munsell. Not only do I owe the original inspiration to Dr. Lehmann-Haupt, but I am also indebted to him for his constant guidance in the planning and writing of this work. His assistance in the technical aspects of Munsell's work was so significant that this book could not have been completed without it. His rich store of learning, his creative imagination, and his sound judgment were of invaluable aid.

During the eight long years while this work was in progress, Dr. Harry J. Carman, Dean of Columbia College, and Moore Collegiate Professor of History at Columbia University, was a constant source of aid and comfort. Although he was busily occupied with his classes, his administrative duties, and his many significant public services, he was always ready to offer assistance. He provided time for conferences and read carefully portions of the manuscript as they were completed. In my moments of anxiety, his encouragement and his faith in his students were a powerful tonic. I can express only crudely the love and affection I bear him. Although he was most actively engaged in teaching and writing, Professor Dumas Malone of the History Department of Columbia University graciously offered to read the entire manuscript. His penetrating comments were invaluable in improving the style of its composition and in the preparation of 9

IO

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

the bibliography. I am indebted to him not only for his assistance in revising the final draft but also for the pleasurable hours spent in contact with his friendly personality. Professors Henry S. Commager, Joseph Dorfman and Richard Hofstadter also read the manuscript and made valuable suggestions. Dr. Clarence S. Brigham, Director of the American Antiquarian Society at Worcester, Mass., was indefatigable in locating all the Munsell items in the rich storehouse which he so ably directs. He cheerfully answered the many questions which he was asked. Mr. R. W. G. Vail, formerly Librarian of the New York State Library, and now Director of the New York Historical Society, gave advice and encouragement throughout the entire time that the work was in progress and was particularly helpful in the preparation of the bibliography. Mr. Joseph Gavit, formerly Acting Librarian of the New York State Library, spent many hours locating Munsell's newspapers and answering problems arising out of their use. Mr. Rollo G. Silver, Reference Librarian of The Peabody Institute Library of Baltimore, Maryland, and a student of nineteenth century bibliography, was most helpful in finding materials and in enlisting the aid of others. Mr. I. Warshaw, a native of Albany and founder of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, uncovered many of Munsell's obscure publications and his business records, especially those relating to the Jarmain " Memoir " from his unexcelled collection of early catalogues, business invoices, etc. Mr. Frank Scopes, Albany bookdealer, arranged for the privilege of using the Reuss " Scrapbook " ; his brother, John E. Scopes, also a bookdealer in Albany, provided a copy of the rare Bibliotheca Munselliana. Both brothers also assisted in the location of rare Munsell items. Mr. Ralph Green, of Chicago, Illinois, supplied information on early presses. Miss Dorothy C. Barck, Librarian of the New York Historical Society, contributed data on genealogical publications. Dr. Sidney I. Pomerantz of the College of the City of New York, offered the use of an important Munsell letter from his collection of publishers' autographs. Mr. Joseph

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

II

Solomon, instructor in the N e w Y o r k School of Printing, read the entire manuscript and offered valuable suggestions to improve the style. Mrs. E m m a Munsell Hevenor, youngest daughter of Joel Munsell, and his last surviving child, spent many days with me telling the story of her family. In a correspondence which lasted until her death in 1946, she answered numerous questions about her father. Her scrapbook and her personal copy of the family genealogy were placed at my disposal. Mrs. Harriet Munsell Muller, granddaughter of Joel Munsell, furnished a copy of the letter he wrote to her father when the latter was at school, and supplied much of the history of Webster's Calendar or the Albany Almanac. Mrs. M a r y Culver Pollock, another granddaughter, contributed information about Munsell's relation to historical societies. T h e many librarians who freely offered their time and knowledge in uncovering Joel Munsell's manuscripts made this work possible. T h e vast majority of Munsell's letters were found uncatalogued and unindexed in the files of the library correspondence of public, university, and historical society libraries. But for the patience and ingenuity of the staff members of these institutions, they would have remained undiscovered. In addition, many librarians showed a keen interest in the study and offered valuable suggestions. T h e y answered many questions by mail, thereby saving countless time-consuming trips. I should like to express my appreciation to the following librarians for their services and to the institutions they represent for allowing me to use their facilities and their materials: Dr. St. George L. Sioussat, formerly Chief, Division of Manuscripts, Library of Congress; Mr. John D. Hatch, Jr., formerly Director, Albany Institute of History and A r t ; Miss Ruth Russell, Library Assistant, American Antiquarian Society; Miss Elizabeth M. Smith, Director, Albany Public Libraries; Miss E. Elizabeth Barker, Librarian, Harmanus Bleecker Library, Albany, N. Y . ; Miss Elinor Gregory (now Mrs. Keyes D e W i t t Metcalf), Librarian, Boston Athenaeum.

12

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I am deeply grateful also to Dr. Zolton Haraszti, Keeper of Rare Books, Miss Harriet Swift, Curator of Americana, Miss Elizabeth Brockunier, Assistant to the Director and Secretary of the Board of Trustees, Mr. Edward Casey, member of the Director's Office, and Mrs. Emily Heittman, assistant in the Rare Book Department, of the Boston Public Library. Other librarians to whom I am sincerely indebted are: Dr. Lawrence C. Wroth, Librarian, John Carter Brown L i b r a r y ; Dr. Robert W . Bingham, Director of the Buffalo Historical Society; Miss Dorothy Eggert, formerly Librarian of the Typographic Library, Columbia University; Miss Harriet S. Tapley, Librarian, and Miss Florence M. Osborne, Assistant Librarian, of the Essex Institute; Miss Mildred E. Ross, Librarian of the Grosvenor Library, Buffalo, N. Y . ; Mr. Keyes D e W i t t Metcalf, Librarian, Mr. Clifford K . Shipton, then Curator of Harvard College Archives, and Miss Miriam Colburn, Library Assistant, of the Harvard University Library; Mr. Ethyl E. Martin, Superintendent, State Historical Society of I o w a ; Miss Edna Huntington, Librarian, L o n g Island Historical Society; Miss Mae Gilman, Librarian, and Miss Marian B. Rowe, Assistant Librarian, Maine Historical Society; the late Mr. Allyn B. Forbes, former Librarian, Massachusetts Historical Society; Miss Florence S. Garing, Librarian, Mercantile Library, N. Y . ; Mrs. Ethel M. Dempsey, Reference Librarian, New Haven Free Public L i b r a r y ; Mr. John Thomas Washbourn, formerly Library Assistant, New Y o r k Historical Society; Mr. Paul North Rice, Chief of the Reference Department, Mr. Henry C. Strippel, former head of the Genealogy and Local History Division and Mr. Robert W . Hill, Keeper of the Manuscripts, New Y o r k Public Library; Miss Edna L. Jacobsen, Head, Manuscript and History Section, and Miss Ida M. Cohen, Reference Assistant, New Y o r k State Library; Mr. R. N. Williams 2nd, Acting Librarian of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania; Mr. John R. Russell, Librarian, Rush Rhees Library, University of Rochester; Mr. Kenneth C. Hayes, former Reference Li-

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

13

brian, Union College Library; Miss Alice E. Smith, Curator of Manuscripts, Historical Society of Wiconsin; and Miss Anne S. Pratt, Reference Librarian, Yale University Library. Mr. Hermon Sharon, of the Yeshiva University Library, rendered invaluable service in the preparation of the index. My wife, Frances Fisher Edelstein,. spent many long and arduous hours helping me locate, transcribe, and summarize many original documents. She typed and edited the entire manuscript. Her constant aid and encouragement was the most significant factor in bringing this study to its completion.

TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE FOREWORD

7

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

9

INTRODUCTION

17

CHAPTER I Boyhood in Northfield

23 C H A P T E R II

Apprentice in Greenfield

45 C H A P T E R III

Journeyman Printer

65 C H A P T E R IV

Launching his Business Career

98

CHAPTER V Early Days of the Munsell Press, 1836-1849

136

CHAPTER VI The Munsell Press at its Height, 1850-1880

170

CHAPTER VII Practical Problems of a Nineteenth Century Printer

208

CHAPTER VIII 239

The Scholar Printer C H A P T E R IX Publisher and Bookseller

284 CHAPTER X

Antiquarian in American History

325

CHAPTER XI Father and Citizen

356

BIBLIOCRAPHY

389

INDEX

409

15

INTRODUCTION THE fame of Joel Munsell was well established among his contemporaries. Printers, historians, and fellow citizens of Albany paid tribute to him. T h e trade journals of his own craft, when noticing his publications, made mention of the excellence of his typography. T h e Printers' Circular, in reviewing a copy of the Life and Journals oj Major General Riedesel, noted that, " The typography and binding of the volumes before us equal those of any work gotten up in this or any other country." 1 Of Charles Munsell's Songs oj the Press, the same journal said, " A l l its mechanical features are faultless; the cut of the type is one of those ' old faces' now much affected, though not by u s ; but the paper, presswork and binding could not be b e t t e r . . . . " 2 In reviewing another publication, the Publishers' and Stationers' Weekly Trade Circular, an outstanding trade publication, referred to the " careful press of J. Munsell." 3 Individual printers added their praise. H. C. Houghton of the Riverside Press, perhaps the chief exponent of fine printing among the large general printing and publishing houses of the latter part of the nineteenth century, praised Munsell's ability as a craftsman. H e referred to the Albany printer as " one, whose name is already celebrated as a master of the typographic art, and who has besides done so much for the cause of good letters." 4 A m o n g those who were interested in writing or preserving the materials of American history, Munsell was an honored colleague. George Bancroft corresponded with him. Sixteen historical societies conferred memberships upon him. His books were favorably reviewed in their publications. Librarians re1 Printers' Circular, July, 1868. 2 Ibid., October, 1868. 3 Publishers' and Stationers' Weekly Trade Circular, April 25, 1872. 4 H . C. Houghton to Joel Munsell, April 28, 1874. In possession of the author.

17

i8

INTRODUCTION

spected him and used some of their limited funds to purchase the books he printed. Individual collectors of Americana added Munsell imprints to their shelves. Munsell's failure to obtain financial success from his efforts was due more to the limited number who were interested in Americana than to their failure to patronize him. In Albany, too, Munsell was respected by a group of citizens who appreciated his work in preserving the history of their city. In 1886, six years after Munsell's death, Albany celebrated the bicentennial of its incorporation as a city. Howell and Tenney's Bi-Centennial History of Albany, published that year, paid due tribute to Munsell. 5 The citizens of Albany, as part of their celebration of the event, erected a bronze tablet at 58 State Street, where Munsell had first begun his work as an independent printer in Old Gable Hall. The tablet read, " In honor of Joel Munsell, Printer of Albany, who, a native of Massachusetts, did more than any other man to preserve the ancient records of his adopted city. Born 1808. died 1880. Here he began his earliest work." In 1899, the building at 58 State Street was sold and later demolished to make way for the National Commercial Bank and Trust Company office. The tablet was removed and lost. Diligent search on the part of Emma Munsell Hevenor, last surviving child of Joel Munsell, failed to uncover it. The loss of this marker seemed to symbolize the obscurity into which Munsell's fame and reputation sank. Thereafter, printers, publishers, and historians rarely referred to Munsell. Beyond the few brief articles appearing in historical society publications at his death, no further serious study of his career was ever made. In the past decade, several students of the history of typography began to call attention to Munsell. In 1938, Ruth S. Graniss, then Librarian of the Grolier Club, wrote in her article " Modern Fine Printing " in A History of the Printed Book that, " The labor during forty years of Joel Munsell of 5 George R. H o w e l l and Jonathan Tenney, Bi-Centennial Albany, Albany, 1886, p. 368.

History

of

INTRODUCTION

19

Albany as printer, publisher, antiquarian, collector, and author of books about printing, have too little been appreciated."* It remained for Professor Hellmut Lehmann-Haupt of Columbia University, authority on nineteenth century book production in the United States, to discuss in The Book in America, Munsell's role in that field. Joel Munsell's career, however, deserves greater attention than such brief notices. The story of the rise and decline of the Munsell firm is itself worthy of study as a record of American business history of the nineteenth century. During a period of over half a century, Munsell turned out a variety of printed material that included almost every type of reading matter available to the reader of his day. That the presses of a printer in a small American city were capable of producing such a vast quantity of printed material is almost unbelievable. Pamphlets, catalogues, books, and newspapers were produced in the same plant that printed circulars, business cards, letterhead stationery, and " To let " notices. From the history of the Munsell press, there emerges a picture of business methods of the times. The leisurely pace of business negotiations, the lengthy extension of credit, and the personal attention to a multitude of minor matters, are characteristic. The many catalogues and price lists printed by the Munsell firm, and its surviving business documents give insight into the cost of printing and the price of printed matter. More important are the evidences of growing industrialization of an old craft and increasing specialization in its various branches. When Munsell began his career, it was normal for a printer to attempt anything on his hand presses from a handbill to a newspaper and from a circular to a book. By the end of Munsell's life, newspaper printing had for several decades been a separate enterprise, book printing and publication were rarely hazarded by any but firms whose main activ6 Ruth S . Graniss, " Modern Fine Printing," in Lawrence C. Wroth (ed.), A History of the Printed Book, Dolphin No. 3, New York, 1938, PP- 274-5-

20

INTRODUCTION

ity it was, and the area of the general printer had become more and more circumscribed. The simple flat bed hand presses upon which Munsell had learned his craft found limited use in competition with high speed, steam driven, rotary presses. But Joel Munsell's individual achievements as a typographer and antiquarian single him out from all the printers of his time. Munsell, a commercial printer who had to meet the competition of his rivals, succeeded nevertheless in raising the quality of his printed matter to a level which won him outstanding distinction among his contemporaries. Simplicity of title pages, in an age given to overelaborateness and affectation, excellence of typesetting, careful presswork, and discriminating choice of paper, were characteristic of his work. Busy as he was with the everyday affairs of his printing plant, he yet found time to lavish care and attention to limited editions of historical works. The genealogical works that he printed tended to raise the standard of production in his day and his book catalogues were a model of excellence in his time. So great was Munsell's love for his craft that he felt impelled to study its historical development. He followed his inclinations by collecting hundreds of volumes related to printing and bibliographical subjects. He accumulated all sorts of data that were in any way connected with printing. His Typographical Miscellany and his unpublished work in American newspaper history and his many volumes of notebooks are storehouses of information on typographical subjects. His own Bibliotheca Munselliana, because of its completeness and its detailed entries, surpassed any previous bibliography of a printer. Munsell's keen interest in the improvement of his art led him ultimately to become a leader in the Romantic revival of typography in the United States and it was in his shop that the first nineteenth century American book in Caslon type was printed. Munsell's career gives testimony to what the ingenuity of a publisher in a small city could accomplish in the nineteenth century. Textbooks, popular tales, and almanacs were the usual

INTRODUCTION

21

stock in trade. Munsell, however, achieved distinction in his ability to publish small, well printed editions of scholarly works on local history and on the history of the nation in the colonial and Revolutionary War periods. He rescued many an early record from oblivion. He encouraged authors to write their accounts. He made an effort to create a public that would patronize such works. He urged librarians to purchase them. Financial losses did not discourage him. He devoted his time and substance to putting into print the early records of his country. An interesting sidelight arising from his work as a printer and publisher of historical materials was his work in promoting and aiding the publication of genealogical works. The very same people who were members of historical societies and who were active in promoting the study of American history in the latter half of the nineteenth century were those who were also interested in genealogy. Many a historical society found support and interest through its providing opportunities for research in this field. Limited though their resources might be, they sought nevertheless to build up their genealogical collections. Munsell assumed a commanding position in this branch of Americana. 7 He solicited manuscripts, assisted in assuming the financial burden of printing them, and promoted their sale through the use of subscription lists. His publication of outstanding bibliographies of genealogies by Durrie and Whitmore, and the large number of individual genealogies printed in his shop, attest to Munsell's eminence in this field. From publishing Americana, he was led to becoming its bookseller. He personally collected thousands of volumes of genealogy, town and local history, and other works on American history. These he acquired through his relations with 7 Frank Munsell in his List of American Genealogies or Family Historical Works for Sale by Joel Munsell's Sons, a pamphlet printed in 1904, claimed his father was the first to print genealogies in the United States. The earliest recorded publication in this field is the Genealogy of the Family of Mr. Samuel Stebbins and Mrs. Hannah Stebbins, printed in Hartford, Connecticut in 1771.

22

INTRODUCTION

other publishers and booksellers. By circular, subscription list, and personal letter, by exchange, and finally through auction sale, he disposed of many thousands of volumes of his own publications and those of other publishers. Through his relations with the leading purchasers of Americana, he helped build some of the outstanding collections. So keen was Munsell's interest in local American history that he developed a personal devotion to the history of the city of his adoption. His ten volume Annals of Albany and his four volume Collections on the History of Albany contain a wealth of historical information. They have frequently been used as source books for life in colonial New York. For nearly forty years he conscientiously served the historical society of his city, the Albany Institute, both as an officer and as a contributor of historical papers. As for other historical societies, he published their books, distributed their publications, exchanged titles with them, and repeatedly served as a donor. Joel Munsell had come a long way from the time when, as a young man fresh from a rural hamlet, he had begun his work as printer's apprentice in Greenfield, to the end of his life, when, respected by printers and historians, he was borne to rest in Albany, the city he had served so well. By dint of hard work and application, he established a considerable business enterprise. As a result of his love for his craft and his interest in its history and its advancement, he became the outstanding American printer of his day. His antiquarian inclinations led him to make significant contributions to the advancement of the historical knowledge of his craft, his city, and his country.

CHAPTER I BOYHOOD IN NORTHFIELD " T o prevent all future disputes, and that the place of my birth may not be made the subject of contentions, I deem it necessary to mention that this little village [Northfield, Massachusetts] is entitled to all the honor of that event." S o did Joel Munsell, with all the self-consciousness of his twenty years, write in an autobiographical sketch preceding his diary, begun on M a y 19, 1828. A s an afterthought, he later interpolated in a smaller hand, " The fate of poor Dante should forewarn all geniuses to have the place of their nativity on r e c o r d . " 1 Munsell need have had no such fear, for it is duly recorded in Northfield's town records, which are still in existence, that Joel, the son of Cynthia and Joel Munsell, was born on April 14, 1808. 2 Munsell was not only careful to record his birthplace, but, many years later, when the history of Windsor, Connecticut was being written, he furnished the author with a genealogy and history of his family. 3 In this work, Munsell claimed that the family originated in England with one S i r Phillip de Maunsell who came from Normandy with William the Conqueror and received the Manor of Oxwiche in Glamorganshire. His grandson, Sir John Maunsell, was lord chief justice of England during the reign of Henry I I I . S i r John's eldest son, Sir Thomas, fell in the Barons' W a r s and was succeeded by his son, Henry. The latter was the ancestor of the extinct Lords Mansel and baronets of Margram. This family omitted the " u " during Queen Elizabeth's reign, and in 1 7 1 1 dropped the second " 1 " . A branch of the family, which emigrated from the 1 Joel Munsell, Diary ( N e w York Historical Society), I, 10. 2 Northfield, Massachusetts, Record of Births, Marriages, Deaths, and Intentions, Book B, 1722-1842 (In possession of the Town Clerk of Northfield, Massachusetts). 3 Henry R. Stiles, The History and Genealogies of Ancient Hartford, 1891-2, II, 510.

Windsor, 23

24

JOEL

MUNSELL

neighborhood of Frome in England and settled in Ireland in the days of Charles I, became known as Monsell of Tervoe. The name was variously spelled as Maunsell, Mansell, Monsell, Monsall, Munsill, Mansel, Moncil, Munsel, and Muncil. According to Joel Munsell, the family history, as well as the escutcheons of the different branches, all showed a common lineage. 4 The first mention of the name in connection with America is found in a " Letter of the King's Council for Virginia," dated February 28, 1610, where Sir Robert Mansell, of the Virginia Company of London joined others in signing a document relating to the sending out of supplies of men and provisions to Virginia. 5 Sir Robert maintained his interest in the New World, for, as late as March 13, 1622, we find him as a signer of a letter drawn up by a committee of the London Company in answer to a complaint. In the latter enterprise, he was joined by such prominent fellow committee members as the Earls of Pembroke and Montgomery, with both of whom he had also been associated in the " Letter " of 1610. 6 Mansell himself was a figure of some prominence. A t various times he served as Treasurer of the Navy and Vice Admiral. 7 A Robert Mansell received a ticket in Barbadoes on July 21, 1679, to sail for New England on the ship Richard and Mary.8 There is no known relationship between him and Sir Robert Mansell. In addition, according to family tradition, two or three Munsell brothers arrived from England sometime between 1600 and 1700 and settled in New England. 9 The 4 F r a n k Munsell, A Introduction.

Genealogy

5 E d w a r d D . Neill, Virginia 6 E d w a r d D. Neill, History 1869, p. 292. 7 Neill, Virginia

of the Munsell

Family,

Albany, 1894,

Vetusta, A l b a n y , 1885, p. 71. of the Virginia

Company of London,

Albany,

Vetusta, p. 72.

8 J o h n C a m d e n H o t t e n , The Original Emigrants.. .to the American Plantations, 9 Munsell, Genealogy,

Introduction.

Lists. of Persons of Quality, 1600-1700, London, 1874, p. 390.

BOYHOOD I N

NORTH FIELD

25

founder of the family in America from which Joel Munsell was descended was Thomas Munsell, who was born about 1650 and who is believed to have settled in New London, Connecticut, in about 1680. H i s name was variously spelled as Munsell, Monsell, Munsel, and Muncil. Thomas Munsell's son, Jacob, was born in 1690 in' N e w London but removed to Windsor where he married his second wife, Phoebe Loomis, on February 15, 1718. Some time later he moved to the east side of the Connecticut River which at that time was also included in the town of Windsor. 1 0 W i t h Jacob, the recorded history of the Munsell family becomes more certain. In 1 7 3 1 , as ferryman between the Scantic parish on the east side of the river, and Windsor on the west, he petitioned the legislature for a license to keep " strong drink for the accomodation of travellers." 1 1 In March of the following year, as ferryman of the Rivulet Ferry on another part of the river, it is noted in the Ecclesiastical Society Records that " Jacob Munsell desired this society will allow him to set in the west of lower end of the east flanker seat on the men's side so long as he shall continue ferryman here, and he may also make a door in the east end of said seat." T h e request was granted. 1 2 Jacob's work as ferryman was no doubt intended to increase his income for his financial status shortly after his arrival in Windsor was extremely modest. For the year 1720, his rateable estate for taxation purposes amounted to £ 1 9 — one of the smallest in the town. 1 3 T h e Seating Committee of the Parish Church at its meeting on February 18, 1722, assigned " Jacob Muncel " to the fourth seat in the gallery. 14 Jacob Munsell's wife, Phoebe Loomis, bore him eleven children, all born at Windsor. Of his fourth child, Elisha, little is 10 Ibid.,

N o . 11.

11 S t i l e s , History

and Genealogies

of Ancient

Windsor,

I, 412.

12 Stiles, Henry R., The History of Ancient Windsor, New York, 1859,

p. 46713 S t i l e s , History 14 Ibid.,

p p . 563-4.

and Genealogies

of Ancient

Windsor,

I , 562.

26

JOEL

MUNSELL

known except that he was born on September 15, 1723, that at the age of twenty-seven he married Kezia Templer, that nine children were born to them, and that he died on November 22, 1803, at the age of eighty. 1 5 He and his wife are buried in the Scantic Cemetery, where their graves and tombstones, as well as those of some of their children, have been carefully preserved to this day by the local cemetery association. Elisha seems to have been no more prosperous than was Jacob in the latter's youth. Elisha's son, Joel, who had fought at Saratoga, returned home late in 1777, and began to complain of illness two days after his return. A week later he contracted smallpox and died in about eighteen days. The expense of caring for his son, little as it must have been, proved too much for Elisha's slender means. O n January 6, 1778, he petitioned the Connecticut legislature requesting a reasonable reimbursement for his expenses on the grounds that his son had most probably contracted the disease during military service. After detailing the events of his son's death, he added, that your memorialist is not a rich man and poorly able to support his family in health, and noways able to pay what he was by the bowels of a father and the bonds of humanity obliged to engage for his son in his wretched and suffering condition, and your memorialist most humbly prays that your honor would take his case into your wise and compassionate consideration, and since all this has came upon him by his son's being in the public service, you would grant him relief as far as in your great wisdom and goodness you shall judge reasonable, and your memorialist as in duty bound will ever pray....18 Elisha's only other son to grow to manhood, Hezekiah, who was to become the grandfather of the printer, also saw active service in the Revolutionary W a r . He was born on January 15 Munsell, Genealogy, Item 24. T h e genealogical information that follows is largely taken f r o m this work except where otherwise noted. 16 Ibid., F i r s t Appendix.

BOYHOOD

IN

NORTHFIELD

27

17, 1753, and was named after his brother who had been born a little more than a year before, on December 7, 1751, but w h o had died in infancy. A f t e r the news of the Battle of Lexington had reached East Windsor, Hezekiah read the accounts of the struggle in the Hartford Courant and decided to enlist. F o r t y volunteers responded when Captain Lemuel Stoughton called out the militia for a march to Shrewsbury. The service was supposed to last for a few days, but, when it became apparent that their mission would last for several weeks, eleven, including Hezekiah, elected to remain to g o as far as Roxbury. Hezekiah himself related many years later that his sole contribution in this campaign was sentinel duty on two or three occasions at the abandoned house which the troops occupied. In May, 1775, he again enlisted and served seven months. H e was stationed at R o x b u r y and Brookline, but, although he heard the cannon firing at the Battle of Bunker Hill, his company was not asked to participate. Hezekiah Munsell finally saw active service during the seven months he served in 1776. H e took part in the Battle of L o n g Island although he candidily admitted that there was little firing where he was stationed. A f t e r the retreat he was stationed at Harlem Heights. H e left a vivid account of the confusion he saw in the withdrawal of the troops from the City of New York. Hezekiah had purchased an acre of land from his father for £2 iOi. on January 16, 1776. A t the expiration of his military service that year, he returned home and was married on January 24, 1777, to Irene Bissell, the daughter of Moses Bissell and Anna Stiles who was a first cousin of Ezra Stiles, the famous president of Y a l e University. His home life was disturbed in September, 1780, when he was drafted, this time to guard a group of refugee royalists. The war over, he settled down to his domestic affairs. Like most of the Munsells before him, he had a large family—ten children, of whom all but one lived to maturity.

28

JOEL

MUNSELL

Hezekiah acquired so remarkable a reputation that his personal history became of interest to the community. This interest led to the publication in the Connecticut Courant, of his own account of his war service. He was a tall, erect man of great vigor who would compete with young men in the fields when he was seventy-five. He had a deep-seated aversion to rum and tobacco, and an antipathy toward vinegar and cider, so that even the latter, which was to be found in most New England homes, never appeared on his table. He is described as being tenacious in memory and is reputed to have maintained his mental faculties to a remarkable degree to within a week of his death on April 14, 1844, in his ninety-second year. 17 Such then were the forbears of Joel Munsell. They farmed, pursued local crafts, and attended their church. As citizens they served their country in peace as in war. At least two Munsells were in the French and Indian War. Seven Munsells served in the Revolutionary War from East Windsor 18 and one from Windsor. 19 None of the Munsells had risen to any considerable prominence before Joel. 20 Although they were literate, they did not avail themselves of the opportunities in New England for higher education. The members of the Loomis, Stiles, and Bissell families with whom they intermarried were, like themselves, humble farmers and artisans. They raised large families and continued to reside, for the most part, in and around what is now South Windsor. It was only in the nineteenth century that the Munsells became scattered through New England and New York. A s the century progressed they became more widely dispersed through the country. 17 Stiles, History

of Ancient

Windsor,

pp. 713-716.

18 East Windsor was separated from Windsor in 1768. In May 1845, that portion of East Windsor where most of the Munsells lived became South Windsor. 19 Stiles, History

and Genealogies

of IVindsor,

I, 414, 705-711.

20Jabez Munsell, 1769-1832, a grandson of Elisha Munsell, became a Congregational!st minister. H e graduated from Dartmouth in 1794 and received another degree from Yale in 1799—Munsell Genealogy, Item 183.

BOYHOOD

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2Q

Today the name Munsell is almost forgotten in the Windsors. The last one to bear the name of Munsell in South Windsor was Edwin Munsell, a farmer who served in the Civil War. He died on March 9, 1917, at the age of eighty.21 His granddaughter, a Mrs. G. J . Rau, was still living with her daughter only a few hundred yards from the old family homestead in 1942. The land that Edwin cultivated is now the property of the St. Francis R. C. Church and the old family homestead, much remodelled and altered, now serves as the rectory.28 All but two of the children of Hezekiah Munsell and Irene Bissell Munsell were, in the true New England tradition, named after Old and New Testament characters. Like their predecessors, they too became small farmers and artisans. Six of the children remained in the Windsor area.23 The first child, named Hezekiah after his father, seems to have inherited some of his father's mental keenness. His interest in learning may be traced in part to his maternal grandfather who was a Stiles. Hezekiah settled in Hoosick, New York, where he was a lawyer, justice of the peace, and postmaster. He is reputed to have been a classical scholar who taught his children Latin and Greek. An ardent Jeffersonian, he delivered the following toast at a July Fourth dinner, " Federalists, may they hang by the rim of the moon with their fingers greased! " 24 In his seventy-fifth year, in 1851 (he was born on September 17, 1777 and was over eighty when he died on April 16, 1858) his nephew, Joel Munsell, printed 500 copies of his sixty-six page Manual of Practical English Grammar, on a new and easy plan; for Schools, Families, and Self-Instruction.2* 21 Funeral Register of Erwin L. Furrey, undertaker, South Connecticut.

Windsor,

22 A s told to the author by Mrs. G. rL. Rau on August 31, 1942, and confirmed by a letter to the author of Reverend Edward J. Duffy, rector of St. Francis Church, on August 20, 1943. Deeds in possession of the church trace the ownership of the land from Edwin Munsell to the present proprietors. 23 Munsell, Genealogy, 24 Stiles, History

Items 231-240.

and Genealogy

25 Joel Munsell, Bibliotlxeca

of Windsor,

Munselliana,

II, 513.

Albany, 1872, p. 47.

30

JOEL

MUNSELL

Hezekiah Munsell's second child was a girl who was named Irene for her mother; the third child was named Joel after the uncle who had died from smallpox after his Revolutionary W a r service. Joel died in infancy; the fourth child, born on J a n u a r y 14, 1 7 8 3 , was given the same name. He learned to read and write and acquired the art of making wooden wagons and ploughs. H e undoubtedly attended church with his family and, in general, received an upbringing similar to countless other small town N e w England boys. B y 1805, when he was twentythree years old, he had decided to seek his fortune away from his native town. H i s choice fell upon Northfield, Massachusetts, up the Connecticut R i v e r close to the New Hampshire line. Northfield was a very old colonial agricultural community. It had been first visited by white men when a scouting party that had been sent out by the Massachusetts General Court " to lay out a new plantation near the Quinsigamond Pond " (now the city of Worcester) wandered far afield to Squakheag, now Northfield, in 1669. L a n d was bought from the Indians the following year and, in 1 6 7 1 , the first settlement was made. A s a result of Indian hostility, the settlement was abandoned four years later. T h e original settlers, who had come from towns further south along the Connecticut River, in some cases retained their land titles; others sold them to more daring souls in their home towns, for, in 1685, the very same towns provided some families who again attempted a settlement. Indian massacres caused the County Court to order the settlement abandoned again in 1690. Trouble with the Indians continued unabated. Indian raids inspired by the French continued through Queen Anne's W a r , 1 7 0 2 - 1 7 1 3 . On March 30, 1 7 1 3 , the Indians swooped down upon Deerfield and massacred many of its inhabitants. With peace came a new attempt at settlement in 1 7 1 4 . This time there was to be no further disturbance of the little Connecticut R i v e r Valley village. 26 26 Temple and Sheldon, A History of the Toun of Northfield, Massachusetts, Albany, 1875, pp. 50 fF. Northfield was destined to remain essentially a small, rural village. T h e township was to reach its maximum popu-

BOYHOOD I N

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31

W h e n Joel Munsell reached Northfield, it w a s going through a modest period of prosperous g r o w t h . 2 7

Its population had

reached 1 0 6 7 by the beginning of the nineteenth century. Only sixteen towns in Massachusetts had over 1 0 0 0 people in the 1 7 9 1 census. lation of 1772 persons in 1850. But by that time already many of its more ambitious sons had sought out the cheaper agricultural lands further west. The coming of the railroad in the beginning of the century brought in some Irish laborers who remained to found families of their own. The growth of industry throughout the country continued to drain off many of the abler youth. It became increasingly more difficult to wrest a living from the soil in competition with the newly developed lands. New crops such as tobacco and broom corn alleviated the situation temporarily. The twentieth century saw an influx of Poles and Lithuanians, first as farm hands, than as lessees, and finally as owners of agricultural land. By dint of hard toil by all the members of their families, these new pioneers were again able to earn a livelihood from Northfield's lands. Toward the end of the last century, the famous evangelist, Dwight L. Moody, a son of Northfield who had left it at the age of seventeen, returned to make his home in his native town. The nationwide conferences of Christian religious workers and students which Moody inaugurated, and the schools he founded, the Northfield Seminary, and the Mt. Hermon School for Boys, made Northfield a religious center. In addition to the permanent staff of the schools, the town also attracted several retired ministers, some of whom add to their livelihood by providing board to the visitors to the religious conferences held there during the summer. Today Northfield consists curiously of several distinct groups, each living its own life with little or no relation to the others. The descendants of colonial families, people now largely past the middle years of life, still live graciously in the genteel tradition along Main Street and Highland Avenue. The offspring of the Jane, Field, Holton, Merriman, and Mattoon families, whose ancestors were all in Northfield before the Revolutionary War, and the Moodys who came in 1796, still constitute approximately twenty per cent of the population. Joseph Field, descendant of Seth Field, the first schoolmaster, today lives in the ancestral family home. The Irish families, few in number, were the backbone of the first Roman Catholic Church in Northfield. Some few French-Canadian families began to come at the turn of the century. Further down the social scale are the families of the Polish immigrants. Their differences in language, culture, and church, have served to keep them apart, as yet, from the older families. And, more strangely still, even though Dwight L. Moody himself was of an old family, descendants of the colonial families have comparatively little to do with the religious community. No conscious effort keeps them apart, yet, on the whole, each group goes its own way. 27 Herbert Collins Parsons, A Puritan Outpost: A History of the Town and People of Northfield, Massachusetts, New York, 1937, passim.

JOEL

32

MUNSELL

It had acquired new spirit and to its old time families had been gathered new ones, modern in their notions and bringing a culture and enterprise which promised a fulfillment of the fondest dreams of the future. Comfortable fortunes were being acquired, out of the town's natural resources and the varied small industries, coupled with a thrift that was ingrained and constantly inculcated, wrote a proud son of Northfield in his history of the town. A m o n g the new enterprises were a water power bark mill, a tannery, a hatter's shop, a carpenter's shop, and several distilleries. A turnpike company had been charted in 1799, to build a road, starting from Northfield and Greenfield as termini, and j o i n i n g at A t h o l to continue through Gardner and W e s t m i n s t e r to Leominster. E v e n the appearance of the t o w n w a s changing. Barns were gradually being put in the rear of the houses although some few older ones still fronted on the M a i n Street. Painted houses were now the rule rather than the exception. Still within each home was found a spinning wheel for woolen and linen clothing. Homespun w a s still the rule for everyday wear for each member of the family. A n d behind each house was an orchard of apple and pear trees, with an occasional peach tree and quince bush. T h e abundance of apples had resulted in cider replacing beer as the chief beverage. 2 8 In this active community, Joel Munsell must have found sufficient w o r k to engage his talents. B y 1809, three years after his arrival, he had accumulated sufficient funds to purchase a lot of seven and one half acres with a frontage of twenty rods width facing the main s t r e e t — a broad h i g h w a y approximately ten rods in width. T h e rear part of the lot he resold to a W i l liam P o m e r o y while he kept four and a half acres for his o w n use. O n this land he established his home and workshop, the latter standing back of the house. 2 9

Munsell's

wagons

and

ploughs were sold to the farmers of the surrounding country28 Ibid., pp. 214-241. 29 Temple and Sheldon, op. ext., p. 169.

BOYHOOD

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33

side. " These predecessors of the iron plow now in use," wrote Joel Munsell, Jr., in 1876, were usually of very rude construction. They are occasionally preserved in museums as relics of antiquity. The plows made by Munsell were an ingenious and common sense improvement, in the construction of the shire and moldboard. The old irons were nearly perpendicular: and I remember how much difficulty he had to induce the smiths to throw back the top, giving them a more graceful curve for entering the ground with less strain upon the team, and also to afford opportunity for a better form to the moldboard for turning a handsome furrow. His wheels were also models of good and durable workmanship. 30 The museum at Deerfield has a sturdy wooden plough which, according to family and local tradition, was made by Munsell. Another such plough whose reputed maker was Joel Munsell may be found in the Northfield museum housed in the Library building. 31 During the early years of his life in Northfield, Munsell was moderately successful. In 1811, he made further purchases of land in Northfield. Sales of land by him are recorded for the years 1815 and 1817- 32 The town records disclose that his taxes for 1813, based on the holdings of its citizens as of 1812 were set at $4.42. A s the taxes for the entire town were only $1142.66, and the majority of taxpayers paid less than four dollars, " Joel Munsil ", as he is listed, was then a substantial citizen. 33 Nevertheless, all was not smooth sailing for him. O n 30 Joel Munsell, Reminiscences 1876, p. 17.

of Men and Things

in Northfield,

Albany,

31 E m m a Munsell Hevenor, Letter to the author, June a8, 1942. 32 Registry of Deeds of Franklin County (Greenfield, Massachusetts) as consulted by Francis N i m s Thompson, Judge of the Probate Court. Letter to the author, November 24, 1942. 33 T o w n Records of Northfield (Dickinson Memorial Library). A T a x for 1813 made on the list of May, 1812.

Town

34

JOEL

MUNSELL

June 5, 1811, he had written to his brother Hezekiah who was already established at Hoosick, thanking the latter for his willingness to lend him fifty dollars by the middle of September or the first of October. He signed the letter, " yours with esteme ". On December 3, 1812, he gratefully acknowledged the receipt of five dollars. He owed Hezekiah twenty-five dollars in all at this time which the latter had said Joel could use until M a y of the following year. Joel Munsell faithfully promised to repay. 34 By 1826 his assessed parish taxes were only twenty-five cents of the total town parish tax of $332.37, one of the lowest assessments. 35 The year after Munsell had arrived in Northfield, he was married to Cynthia Paine who had been born at Tolland, Connecticut, on August 24, 1782. He was at this time twenty-four years of age and his wife was almost six months older. The Paines had preceded the Munsells to America. Stephen Paine, who was born in England, had arrived in Massachusetts in 1638 and had settled in Hingham. In 1643, he removed to Reheboth, Massachusetts, where he became a leading citizen. H e accumulated a vast landed estate in Reheboth and adjoining towns and served in the Massachusetts General Court for several years. His son, Stephen Paine II, fought in K i n g Philip's W a r . H e too became a large landowner in his own right. Stephen Paine I V had seven sons, all of whom fought in the Revolutionary W a r . One of his sons, Edward, rose to the rank of Brigadier General. Edward's oldest brother, Stephen Paine V , had moved to East Windsor, Connecticut, where he became a prosperous farmer. One of his sons, Solomon, married Eunice Clark. They had numerous children, one of whom, Cynthia, married Joel Munsell. 36 Cynthia and Joel's first child, who was to become the famous printer and publisher, was born on April 14, 1808 in a house across the street from the home 34 Miscellaneous Manuscripts ( N e w York Historical Society), Munsell to Hezekiah Munsell, June 5, 1811, December 3, 1812.

Joel

35 Town Records of Northfield (Dickinson Memorial Library). Parish T a x for 1826. 36 Henry D. Paine, Paine Family Records, Albany, 1878-83, passim.

BOYHOOD

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35

later.87

Munsell was to occupy a year H e was named Joel, for his father. Thereafter six more children were born to the couple in the next twelve years. A l l but one survived infancy. Some time after they were in Northfield, the Munsells were joined by Elisha Munsell, a younger brother of Joel. Elisha was probably associated with his brother as a wagonmaker as he followed the trade of wheelwright in later years. Joel Munsell, Sr., as he must now be called, entered the activities of the town. He served the local artillery company of the militia as the base drummer. W h e n the W a r of 1812 broke out, the company was called out. The Captain himself failed to appear and the Lieutenant was forced to take charge. T h e company was finally organized but, A s the base drummer was the center of interest to many people, small boys in particular, it was quickly observed that Joel Munsell, the plow maker, who stood high in popular admiration was not doing his usual military duty. Will Hall, a Winchester youth, was in his p l a c e . . . . It was quickly circulated that Joel's wife had put up a plea that he hire a substitute out of consideration of herself and three children, the youngest less than a year old.88 During the time that Munsell lived in Northfield, the town had experienced a number of civic improvements. In the spring of 1815, four rows of elms had been set out on both sides of the main street. T o this day they lend a majesty to the town out of proportion to its size and importance. On February 14, 1814, a meeting was held in a local tavern for the purpose of founding a library. A constitution and a set of by-laws were drafted. The library was founded on a proprietary basis, each proprietor, among whom was Joel Munsell, contributing four dollars. A s the collection grew, the value of the shares increased. The original collection consisted of the following 37 Munsell, Reminiscences, p. 10. T h e house was occupied by a Colonel Belcher in 1825 when Munsell left Northfield. Colonel Belcher w a s still living there in 1876. 38 Parsons, History

of Northfield,

p. 239.

36

JOEL

MUNSELL

groups of books: Geography and Travel 16, Philosophy 8, Biography 1 3 , History 9, Essays 1 3 , Natural History 4, Poems 5 and The Parent's Friend, which was left unclassified. Proprietors failing to pay their fines had their shares sold at public auction. 39 Elisha Munsell was hired to build a bookcase for which he presented a bill of $ 1 1 . 4 7 o n September 1 , 1 8 1 4 , to the trustees. The latter duly noted on the reverse of the bill that they voted to pay the amount on September 8, 1 8 1 4 . Thereupon Elisha receipted the bill and returned it to the trustees.40 Munsell seems not to have maintained consistent membership in the group. During the year 1825, it appears that share No. 30 was transferred from Obadiah Mattoon to Joel Munsell and later in the same year from Munsell to Sam Hunt, J r . 4 1 At any rate, Munsell's membership was to influence the education of his son since, many years later, Joel Munsell, J r . , recorded that it was in the Northfield Social Library that he obtained his first reading. 42 In 1866 he was to donate seventyfive printed copies of a fifty-three page catalogue of the library, in addition to a collection of one hundred volumes. In this catalogue appeared a list of all the proprietors since the library's founding. The names of Elisha Munsell and Joel Munsell, Jr., are recorded but, strangely enough, Joel Munsell, Sr.'s name does not appear. 43 Despite the fact that Joel Munsell, Sr., was at various times, a property holder and a subscriber to the public library, the Munsells appear, on the whole, to have been in straitened circumstances. So much did this fact impress itself on young 39 Ibid., pp. 254, 255. 40 Bill rendered by Elisha Munsell, September 1,1914. Owen R.Washburn Collection of the Northfield Social Library (Dickinson Memorial Library, Northfield, Massachusetts). 41 Northfield Social Library. Trustees' Report, October 3, 1825. Owen R . Washburn Collection (Dickinson Memorial Library, Northfield, Massachusetts). 42 Munsell, Bibliothcca 43 Catalogue

Munselliana,

of the Northfield

Social

p. 142. Library,

Northfield, 1866.

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Joel's mind that when, at the age of twenty, he began to keep a diary, his chief characterization of his parents dealt with their economic difficulties. H e wrote, M y father, by trade a waggonmaker, though a man of industrious habits, and a perfect adept at his business, still wanted an equally necessary requisite, the art of economy. M y mother performed the duties of that relation with an affection that leaned rather too much toward indulgence; and like my other parent wanted prudence. The demise of wealthy relations had never encumbered them with vast domains and unwieldy coffers. In fine, they were poor! A bare subsistence was procured by constant labor and the family felt the effects of want. 44 On more than one occasion their son J o e l was to be called upon to contribute to their support. Eventually, in 1846, the parents moved to a house in Albany that their son had prepared f o r them. T h e lack of prudence in financial matters shown by his parents was to make the son all the more eager not to follow their example. The childhood of Joel Munsell, J r . , may best be described in his own words, T o pass over my infancy which was remarkable for little else than a petulant, mischievous propensity, I came to the age of nine. Hitherto, however, I forgot to say, I had discovered a readiness to learn that did me some credit and it was at this period that my fondness for study began to abate. I had acquired a penchant for rambling and orchard robbing that made confinement in a schoolroom extremely irksome. A s the calling of my father did not permit of my assistance at that age, I had no calls for labor except the simple toils of weeda garden, or some equally light tasks; and even these were dreaded. My fondness for play reigned predominant, and the mere name of " work " or school was associated in my mind with everything to be avoided. The frequent castigation I underwent for playing truant, did not in the least prevent a 44 Munsell, Diary, I, 9.

38

JOEL MUNSELL repetition of it, but rather tended to heighten my disgust for school. I found accomplice in one Prior, who my superior in years was also superior in knavery and, moreover, had an admirable tact [ ?] of freeing himself from merited punishment when detected, and not infrequently at my expense.... By the time I reached my twelfth year, I had pretty much divested myself of parental authority In company with Prior continually, time was divided between fishing and robbing orchards and committing other depredations upon property of the honest farmers in the neighborhood. When unsuccessful in a fishing excursion, we generally turned our sports to mischief, and this was carried on to such a length that we had become famous as marauders and were indeed the terror of all agriculturalists in that vicinity. 45

Fortunately for Joel, the partnership in crime was broken up when Prior's parents secured a position for him in a wholesale store in Hartford. Joel was heartbroken. He began to feel alone in the world. After some serious reflection, he decided to make amends for the time wasted. " There is seldom a circumstance," he writes occurs in a country village, however trifling it may be, but it is soon in the mouth of the whole populace. So the sudden transition from a wild, abandoned rogue to a steady, emulous schoolboy, restored my character from the shafts of calumny and malice to which it had been in a degree justly exposed.48 In order to dramatize his reformation, Munsell probably exaggerated his wickedness as a youth. His diary gives no inkling of his youthful industry. When the town's wooden aqueduct was being repaired, " Such of us boys as were ambitious of earning a little money, were encouraged to dig the trenches along the north side of the turnpike roadway." The boys did a good deal of hard work for little pay. Their wages were determined by the length of the trenches dug. When the work was finished, the Reverend Mr. Mason who superin45 Ibid., I, 10, u. 46 Ibid., I, 13.

BOYHOOD

IN

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39

tended the job, measured the trenches by his own three foot paces. A s the minister was a tall man with a long stride, " it was questioned among us whether he had a right to take such long steps." Munsell recalled this incident when reminiscing about his youth only three or four years before he died. O n another occasion, when a great rock on the Main Street was being removed, Joel found work as one of the artificers on the great work of removing the rock, it being my principal station to engineer, a three cattle team, consisting of a pair of oxen and a horse, in drawing the fragments of the blast on a stone boat! 4 7 In the company of his parents Joel attended the meeting house of the First Congregational Society presided over by the Reverend Mr. Mason, whose fame as a wrestler overshadowed his reputation as a divine. T h e church had even then been infected with the growing Unitarian heresies. It was not until 1825, however, that the orthodox deserted to found their own church. The old meeting house, surmounted by a gilded rooster, stood out in the main highway close to the Munsell home. " It was traditional among the boys that when the brazen fowl heard the ejaculation of the barnyard chanticleer, he crowed also," wrote Munsell toward the end of his life. The pews were square-built boxes, built high and having a baluster stopped by a rail. T o accommodate the occupants while standing in prayer, the seats were made to turn up on hinges in sections, to enable the worshippers to lean against the wall or upon the railing. When the pastor pronounced the Amen, straightaway there arose a great uproar, produced by letting down the seats, as though they were firing a salute, which much resembled, as nearly as the sounds can be reduced to words, clitter, clatter, B U M P ! Whack! B A N G ! So accustomed was the audience to the salute, that the confusion produced seemed to pass unnoticed, except when some urchin gave unusual emphasis to the report. 47 Munsell, Reminiscences,

pp. 18, 3.

40

JOEL

MUNSELL

F o r many years the church was unheated in winter except for a few footstoves brought by the parishioners and " the animal heat given off by the audience." When it was suggested that the church be heated, one cantankerous parishioner felt that heating should not be installed until a cooling system for summer could also be added! In time a box stove was placed in the aisle fronting the pulpit, and supplied with wood. If it was any better than a device for cooling in the summer, the occupants of wall pews could hardly have perceived it. A pipe was carried around under the galleries, and the smoke discharged through the western wall. In the capacity of sexton's assistant, I prepared the wood and made the fires.48 There were other occupations in Northfield for a wideawake, alert youngster, though they were perhaps less remunerative. Watching the parades and drills of the artillery company was an occupation largely reserved for boys. T h e reappearance in town of those who went into the surrounding hills to hunt was a source of interest. T h e bringing back of bears, wild cats, wolves, and foxes was not all unusual. A n d again, there were freaks of nature that afforded interesting diversion. A tornado had blown a w a y the barn of a farmer in the neighboring W a r wick. A number of people in Northfield volunteered to help put up another. J o e l took advantage of the opportunity to go along with them to view the destruction. H i s curious interest in strange natural phenomena was never to leave him. 49 Opportunities for education in Northfield were quite limited at the time Joel was of school age. A s f a r back as 1 7 3 6 , the town was " presented " by the County Court f o r not having a school. A meeting was held and a committee was appointed to buy or hire a schoolhouse. £ 1 3 , i 8 j . were voted to pay a schoolmaster. 5 0 Seth Field, a native of the town and a Y a l e 48 Ibid., p. 13. 49 Ibid., pp. 16-25. 50 Temple and Sheldon, op. cit., p. 224.

BOYHOOD

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41

graduate, was appointed teacher. A schoolhouse was built which was, from time to time, rebuilt and enlarged. In 1764, a new schoolhouse, twenty-one by twenty feet and reaching to a height of seven feet w a s built right in the middle of the road leading to W a r w i c k . Parents were relieved of tuition but the woodpile in the middle of the street was expected to be kept full by the parents of the students. Attendance at school was optional. During the last twenty years of the century the town was divided into three school districts in order to accommodate students living in outlying parts of the town. T h e education of the school board members was so limited that one of them used a mark instead of signing his name and others used such highly original spelling as " eightiene," " comite," " streate," and " scooling." Impetus had been given the schools in the first year of the century by combining the three districts into a pretentious two-story schoolhouse with a belfry. It was this school that Joel Munsell attended. 61 A t the time Joel grew up there had not yet been established at Northfield any school beyond the elementary grades. It was not until 1829, after Joel had left his home town, that the Northfield Academy of Useful Knowledge was opened in a building formerly used as a tavern. However, the town furnished other opportunities for an education. T h e Northfield Social Library found young Joel as one of its constant readers. In addition, the variety of crafts practised in town must have provided a broadening of experience for an alert, inquisitive youth. Joel's new-found assiduity did not last long. In his fourteenth year he " naturally " began to think of a trade. There was little precedent either in his own family or in Northfield for the continuation of schooling beyond the elementary grades. Joel Munsell, Sr. had frequently suggested printing to his son. Perhaps his son's " readiness to learn " and the desire to see him placed in a more highly regarded occupation, led to the choice. However, young Joel decided that he wanted to pursue his 51 Parsons, op. cit., passim.

42

JOEL

MUNSELL

father's trade. For the next three years he worked industriously making ploughs and wagons. Although the occupation was not unpleasant to him, Joel soon found himself dissatisfied with home. A t one time he actually packed up his clothes in preparation for leaving home. Printing now seemed to offer a good chance for escape. He decided to wait until an opportunity arose. At this time he had never seen a printshop nor did he have any idea of its operation as none existed within twelve miles of his home. Munsell's eyes turned naturally toward Greenfield which, although smaller in population at that time, was more of a commercial center than Northfield and was already the county seat of Franklin County. In this busy crossroads town there were several printing shops. On April 19, 1825, appeared the first issue of The Franklin Post and Christian Freeman, printed and published by Samuel H. Pinks for the proprietors, with Jonathan A. Saxton as editor. In one of the advertisements the printer himself solicited job printing for his shop and added the following, Two boys from 14, to 16 years of age, who sustain a good reputation for intelligence and sobriety, are wanted as apprentices. Such ones will be received on liberal terms.52 As Northfield did not have a newspaper, its inhabitants were in the habit of ordering papers from Greenfield. When Joel noticed the advertisement for apprentices, he decided immediately to apply for the post. As Joel himself relates it, My resolution was fixed at once. I mentioned it to my father who opposed it, and said everything in his power to prevent my carrying it into execution. I persisted in pointing out the advantages the profession must have over all others —the most weighty of which that it offered an opportunity of reading and acquiring a knowledge of the world that in my 52 Franklin

Posi and Christian

Freeman,

A p r i l 18, 1825.

BOYHOOD

IN

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43

present situation I could not obtain. This was assented while it was urged on the other hand that the fraternity were addicted to dissipation, that a multitudinous throng continually strolled about the country out of employ, and that it required a capital to establish business which I should probably never be in possession of. In fine, every argument that could be adduced was brought in requisition to persuade me to abandon the scheme, but without success, till at length my father imperatively forbid my thinking any more about it. Some time later, Munsell thought that his account of his fathers' opposition was incomplete and somewhat unfair. On the margin of the page upon which the foregoing account was found, he interpolated in pencil, I have no doubt that my father was guided by the best motives in opposing this scheme, for he had the welfare of his children at heart. He made many inquiries about the profession among men who were acquainted with the subject and thought much upon it. 53 That there was a good deal of truth in Joel Munsell, Sr.'s comments on the members of the printing craft cannot be denied. The tradition of the tramp printer who wandered from place to place seeking work and who, when he found it, spent a good part of his wages in drinking, had been established in colonial days. This custom was to continue unabated until the latter part of the eighteenth century. Even the printers who had managed to accumulate sufficient equipment to set up their own establishments, would frequently set up shop in a town, remain for a little while, and move on. Students of the history of printing in America often have great difficulty in discovering who was the first printer in a locality since "the first printer " is often an elusive fellow whose stay was very brief. Joel Munsell himself was to experience some years of wandering through New England and New York with frequent changes of employment. He was to see a good deal of drinking 53 Munsell, Diary, I, 14-16.

44

JOEL

MUNSELL

and roistering on the part of his fellow typographers but he did get " an opportunity for reading and acquiring a knowledge of the world." This discussion between father and son had continued over Saturday and Sunday. Early Monday morning, I equipped myself in my best apparel, and shaped my course f o r . . . [Greenfield] on foot and alone, nought heeding the parental injunction. The journey seemed long before I arrived at the village, and as I ascended each eminence my heart panted with the expectation that its summit would command a view of the place that my ideas had led me to hope in my wayward cogitations would prove the era of a life unknown. It was no small disappointment that the valley beyond so often proved a forest, with here and there a patch which proved that the husbandman had reared a cot that year, the scene a semblance of variety. At length my eye caught the spires of the churches. The villages at the time contained 6 or 700 inhabitants, and to me, who had, for several years, scarcely been from my father's fireside, this place seemed a city. Northfield at that time was accounted a considerable village, but the houses were of wood and built after the old fashion, and the street so wide that the people on one side scarcely considered those opposite as neighbors. But here the buildings were mostly of brick, compact, and the variety and number of signs made a display so extraordinary and unexpected, that I shall never forget my sensations at the time.54 Young Joel lost no time in making his way to the office of The Franklin Post and Christian Freeman. His joy was " inexpressible at the prospect that lay before me," when the position was offered to him. He started back home to make preparations for moving to Greenfield and arrived at sunset of the same day. 54 Ibid., pp. 16, 17.

CHAPTER II APPRENTICE IN GREENFIELD GREENFIELD was by far the leading commercial and industrial center of Franklin County. In a petition to the State L e g islature, as early as December 2, 1811, to retain its designation as County Seat, it had rightfully maintained that it was the most considerable place of trade in the County. 1 By act of the State Legislature a bank had been chartered in 1822. 2 T h e Greenfield Social Library had been established on a proprietary basis in 1820 by the leading citizens. 3 According to a memorandum drawn up by one of its inhabitants on August 22, 1822, the village of Greenfield, as distinguished from the town, had 484 inhabitants. Of these, there were thirty-nine mechanics, ten lawyers, ten laborers, and only ten farmers. There were eighty houses occupied as dwellings, seventy-three barns and corn houses, fifty-seven woodhouses, twenty-three mechanics' shops, and fourteen stores. 4 Greenfield's artisans or mechanics, as they were then called, were not so narrowly tied to their occupations but that they also possessed barns and woodhouses. Many an artisan possessed some livestock and cultivated a small patch of ground. In 1825, the year of Joel Munsell's arrival, Greenfield boasted three newspapers. The Impartial Intelligencer had been started on February 1, 1792 by Thomas Dickman who was then twenty-three years old. Dickman's principal backer was William Coleman, a lawyer and leading citizen. Coleman was later to win considerable fame as the editor of the daily New York Evening Post, which was established by Hamilton, Jay and other Federalists on November 16, 1801, nine months 1 Francis M. Thompson, History

0} Greenfield,

Greenfield, 1904, I, 513.

2 Ibid., p. 311. 3 Greenfield

Gazette,

Centennial Edition, February 1, 1892.

4 Thompson, op. cit., I, 312. T h e New England town consisted of the village and the surrounding countryside. Both bore the same name. 45

46 after

JOEL the election

of

MUNSELL

Thomas

Jefferson

to

Presidency.6

the

D i c k m a n himself had been an apprentice in B o s t o n in the s h o p of B e n j a m i n E d e s . T h e latter h a d been co-partner a n d editor, since 1 7 5 5 , of The

Boston

Gazette

and

Country

m a n h a d followed his apprenticeship b y

Journal.6

working

Dick-

for

Isaiah

T h o m a s at W o r c e s t e r , M a s s a c h u s e t t s . T h o m a s had been in the habit of e n c o u r a g i n g his apprentices and j o u r n e y m e n t o set u p p r i n t i n g shops of their o w n t h r o u g h o u t the colonies, often w i t h T h o m a s himself a s partner.

T h e R a m a g e press, w h i c h D i c k -

m a n h a d b r o u g h t w i t h h i m to Greenfield, had been used T h o m a s t o print his f a m o u s edition of the Bible. a f t e r D i c k m a n began the Impartial changed

to the

Greenfield

7

Within

S i x months

its n a m e w a s

Intelligencer,

Gazette.

by

the

next

thirty

y e a r s it w a s to h a v e several d i f f e r e n t o w n e r s , as well as three d i f f e r e n t names, The

Traveller,

Franklin Herald and Public

the Franklin

Herald,

a n d the

Advertiser,8

5 Willard Grosvenor Bleyer, Main Currents in the History of American Journalism, Boston, 1927, pp. 133, 134. Coleman had written articles for the Impartial Intelligencer and was its guiding spirit. H e had been well educated and had received considerable political experience as a presidential campaign orator and member of the Massachusetts Legislature. In 1798 he moved to New York where two years later he became clerk of the circuit court. T h e Post, under his leadership, attained a circulation of 1100. 6 Appleton's Cyclopedia of American Biography, New York, 1898-9, II, 302. Edes was a leader in the move for independence. It was at his house that the participants in the Boston T e a P a r t y met to drink punch. They then went to the Gazette office where they disguised themselves as Indians before boarding the ships in the harbor. 7 Greenfield Gazette, Centennial Edition, F e b r u a r y 1, 1892. Joel Munsell's interleaved and annotated copy of Timperley's Printers and Printing has on p. 1114 an obituary clipping for John Denio which repeats the same information. 8 Ibid. Dickman sold the paper on August 20, 1798 to Francis Barker. On June 17, 1799, Dickman was again the proprietor. H e sold it to John Denio on June 7, 1802. Denio sold it to Ansel Phelps on F e b r u a r y 12, 1811, when it became The Traveller. On January 14, 1812, its name was changed once more to the Franklin Herald. On May 5, 1812, Phelps took Denio in as a partner but again became sole owner on November 4, 1815. On May 21, 1817, it was again published by Phelps and Denio. On September 3, 1822, the name was augmented to Franklin Herald and Public Advertiser.

APPRENTICE

IN

GREENFIELD

47

On June 7, 1802, the Greenfield Gazette was sold to John Denio, who had been born in Greenfield in 1778. Denio had learned the art of printing as an apprentice in Dickman's shop. He had continued to acquire skill as a printer in the shop of Thomas and Andrews in Boston. After a brief experience as partner in a newspaper which he had helped to establish in a Vermont town, he returned to Greenfield where he purchased the Gazette from Dickman. At various times he sold out his interest only to return to its ownership either as sole proprietor or in partnership with Ansel Phelps. On May 20, 1823, he finally severed his relationship with the paper, then known as the Franklin Herald and Public Advertiser, only to begin publication on July 1, 1823, in association with Messrs. Clark and Tyler, of a rival newspaper using the old name of Greenfield Gazette. By May 16, 1826, he was sole owner of the newspaper which was rapidly outstripping its older rival. On September 19, 1826, the Gazette became known as the Greenfield Gazette and Franklin County AdvertiserDenio tired of his newspaper career in Greenfield and sold out his interest in the Gazette to his former partner Alanson Clark before his departure on April 30, 1827 for Albany. Less than a month later, on June 26, the Gazette absorbed its older rival and was then published as the Greenfield Gazette and Franklin Herald under the ownership of Phelps and Clark. 10 Within a few weeks after Denio had left the employ of Phelps back in the spring of 1823 to establish the new Greenfield Gazette, Phelps had added Jonathan A. Saxton to his staff as a partner. Saxton, a lawyer who had come from Deerfield, had become more interested in literary pursuits than in the practice of law. When, on April 19, 1825, Samuel H. Denio once more retired from the firm on May 20, 1823. On June 10, 1823, the paper was published by A. Phelps and Co. Associated with the paper at this time was Jonathan A. Saxton, a Deerfield lawyer. Saxton left the firm on June 22, 1824. 9 Ibid., and Timperley, op. cit., p. 1114. 10 Greenfield Gazette and Franklin Herald, June 26, 1827.

48

JOEL

MUNSELL

Pinks began to print a new newspaper, The Franklin Post and Christian Freeman, Saxton's name appeared on the masthead as editor. Thus, in 1825, Greenfield boasted three rival newspapers, although by the summer of 1827, by the removal of the Franklin Post to Northampton, and the consolidation of the older rivals, it was reduced once more to a single paper. The newspapers of the early decades of the nineteenth century had made gradual progress from the colonial period. T h e removal of governmental restrictions after independence had been secured, and the formation of political parties, had resulted in a period of violent partisanship characterized by scurrility and vulgar personal attack and innuendo. The Federalist and Republican parties had their party organs in Boston, New Y o r k , Philadelphia, and Washington. Considerable expansion characterized the period from 1801 to 1833. The number of dailies rose from twenty to sixty-five, and the New Y o r k Courier and Enquirer claimed a circulation of 4000. The increase in mail service and its extension to rural and western areas helped increase circulation. News travelled faster by the use of post riders and government express post. New Y o r k ' s newspapers showed considerable enterprise in chartering fast schooners to meet the incoming ships to get the news from Europe. National politics and foreign affairs still constituted the chief news and even these were largely copied from other papers as there was little systematic news gathering except for the Washington papers which reported Congressional debates. Local news was only occasionally reported and was rarely made the subject of leading articles. Newspapers of the coastal cities contained careful accounts of the arrival and departure of trading vessels and filled more than fifty per cent of their columns with advertisements. The latter were set up as straight matter much like the classified advertisements of today. Display typefaces were rarely used and the entire space occupied by the advertisement was filled with printed matter. Occasionally some small stock cuts were used. The editorial columns contained a wide variety of matter. Only occasionally

APPRENTICE

IN

GREENFIELD

49

were there editorials written as such. Often letters to the editor and short local news items were included. The physical proportions of the newspaper differed little from those of colonial times. The city dailies and country weeklies still contained the usual four page sheets of twentyfour or twenty-eight columns. Some of the rural papers still used small sized sheets not much larger than the pages of the " slick" magazines of the 1940's. Papers were sold by subscription only, the usual rate for dailies being eight dollars a year and from $1.50 to $3.50 for weeklies. Semi- and triweekly papers usually cost from four to five dollars annually.11 The advertisement for an apprentice which had so stirred Joel Munsell's ambitions had apparently not attracted many suitable applicants. The notice which had appeared in the first issue of the Franklin Post on April 19, 1825, had been repeated verbatim every week through that of May 24. 12 Some weeks had elapsed between Joel's first notice of the advertisement and the beginning of his apprenticeship. On the day when the last appeal was made for apprentices, Joel arose in the morning and set out for Greenfield. That very afternoon he began to learn the art of printing. He noted that he was then seventeen years old. Joel soon applied himself with great earnestness. His progress as a typesetter was so rapid as to impress itself on the minds of the other employees of the shop. One of them had seen a notice in a newspaper that an apprentice in a country printshop, who had been employed for only two months and ten days had turned in a certain large amount of work. Joel was urged to try to break the record. He had then been at work for only two months but agreed nevertheless to make the attempt. On the day set for the trial, word came from Northfield to come home. His younger sister, a girl of two and a 11 Frank Luther Mott, American 201; Bleyer, op. cil., pp. 130, 153. 12 Franklin

Journalism,

Post and Christian Freeman,

New York, 1941, pp. 167-

April 19, 1825 to May 31, 1825.

50

JOEL

MUNSELL

half years, was critically ill. Joel was soon back at work and Mary Edwards Munsell recovered (she died in her eightieth year). A s the trial had once been interrupted, it was decided to postpone it for ten days in order to equalize conditions. On the appointed day, Joel arose at dawn and "after doing the duties devolving upon my devilship " began to set type. B y sunset he had set 8,120 ems—about 600 more than his unknown rival. Graves, the workingman who had first proposed the contest, spread the news. The next issue of the Post celebrated the feat in an editorial paragraph. 13 Joel's joy at making good and his pride in his achievement were soon disturbed by one of those problems that has frequently plagued printing plants from Gutenberg's time to ours —namely one of precedence. Shortly after he began work, another apprentice was hired who had had some previous experience and was therefore ranked higher. As custom and tradition had assigned certain less desirable tasks to the apprentice with the least experience, and especially as the newcomer began to dictate to Joel, the latter determined to have him ousted. " I could ill brook the dictation of one in whom," he stated, I discovered every inferiority of mind and intelligence, and one whose disposition soon proved itself to be unnatural and overbearing in the extreme, and puffed up with self-importance.... Presuming in his gentility he had several times endeavored to crowd himself into the notice of those who felt their own superiority; the consequence was his advances were treated, as they deserved, with contempt.14 Happily for Joel, his rival made a fool of himself in trying to court the " reigning belle " and finally left town because of the jeering that ensued. Munsell later met his erstwhile fellowapprentice in Albany and lent him some money. He never saw either again. Another apprentice, Whitcomb, had been em13 Ibid., August 11, 1825. 14 Munsell, Diary, I, 20-23.

APPRENTICE

IN

GREENFIELD

51

ployed before the arrogant one had left. Munsell and W h i t comb soon became intimate friends. L o n g after both had left Greenfield, they continued to correspond with each other. Joel continued working all that summer and the following winter. Of this period he notes nothing but the bad weather and an illness which he suffered. In July, 1826, less than a year after he had begun his apprenticeship, the foreman left the job and he succeeded to the position. Joel was particularly pleased in that the chief responsibility for getting out the paper rested with him as Saxton, the editor, knew little about printing. In the fall, he attended a course of lectures in botany. It was his first effort, since leaving Northfield, to further his formal education. Joel and his chum, Whitcomb, took their meals at Saxton's house but slept at a boarding house. One Sunday morning the boys overslept after having worked late the night before. S a x ton had already breakfasted when they arrived. H e reproached them vehemently. The boys were astonished at such conduct and resolved never to enter Saxton's house again. " This determination was adhered to," wrote Joel, with the exception of my once going on being sent for—the purpose of which proved to be to see if some reconciliation could not be effected; but the conferences ended without anything being brought about. Whitcomb was rather more obstinate than myself; for I never could harbor resentment against anyone, even if I had been very much abused, for a very long time. And in this case I very soon relented and only held out to show a little independence and to keep up the agreement I had made with Wfhitcomb] to carry my obstinacy as far as he did. Saxton apparently regretted his bad temper and later prepared a fine dinner although normally " Sunday noon's fare was seldom else than a piece of pye." However, the boys did not appear for this meal. It was only later that they learned of the elaborately prepared dinner from Mitchell, the newest apprentice in the shop. 15 15 Ibid., I, 28-31.

52

JOEL

MUNSELL

The boys refused to work the following day and took the matter up with Colonel E . Gilbert, one of the owners. H e persuaded them to get out the paper pending a meeting of the proprietors. But as nothing seemed to result from the meeting, the boys decided to quit on December 7, 1826. Mitchell had egged them on in the dispute in the hope that they would leave so that he could better his own position. Their spirit of independence was heightened by a knowledge of their importance to the paper and, on Joel's part particularly, by the knowledge that he could get another job. Although Joel felt that the Post and Freeman had been edited with considerable talent, it had never made a wide appeal to readers. After it lost the two good workmen, whom, according to Joel, the proprietor had said were better than those he could secure in their place, the paper limped along and was expected to terminate with each issue. A f t e r finishing the volume, it fell more directly into the hands of the editor who moved it to Northampton in April, 1827, where it died of lack of patronage on April 22, 1828. 16 The newspapers of Joel Munsell's day contained, in addition to the news and the advertisements, a great number of small literary pieces. T h e pages were filled with poems, anecdotes, short tales, and essays. A s resources were limited, no paper could hope to have a sufficient number of original contributions with which to fill its pages. A s each newspaper office received countless other newspapers by exchange, it was a simple matter to cull desirable poems and articles from the various papers on file. Usually the newspaper from which the extract was taken was given credit. Sometimes the article was rewritten. A n article that was written specifically for the particular newspaper was usually so designated. T o the boy fresh from a small agricultural village, the contact with what he considered worthy literary productions was an intellectual treat. Shortly after the beginning of his apprenticeship, he began to make his own collection of literary gems. 16 Ibid.,

I, 33, 34.

APPRENTICE

IN

GREENFIELD

53

These he pasted in scrapbooks which he later sent out to be bound. The scrapbook habit, once begun, was to be continued all his life, although as his interests narrowed down, they were to be confined mainly to printing and historical subjects. Some thirty-eight volumes of scrapbooks collected by Munsell are still in existence, eighteen of which are devoted exclusively to typography. And, despite the large number of volumes extant, there is definite indication, through the absence of certain numbered volumes in a series, that not all of them survive. For Joel Munsell the collection of scrapbooks was to be more than a mere hobby. It represented a fundamental aspect of his personality. The desire to collect, organize, and preserve various literary or historical pieces mark the instincts of the true antiquarian. They were to be collected not for the purpose of synthesizing them into a creative work of literary criticism or historical narrative, but rather for their own sake and for the use to which other more creative imaginations might put them. During 1825 Joel managed to accumulate a sufficient number of clippings to make up two small volumes. In the spare hours when he and the other two boys who worked on the Franklin Post would print up little items for their own amusement, he took occasion to print title pages for the volumes. He called them " The American Cento Comprising Miscellanies, Poetry and Anecdotes Selected by Joel Munsell." On the front page he also duly recorded " Greenfield, Mass.," and the year. To print his title pages Munsell, following the practice of his times, ransacked the resources of the shop in selecting the type. The words " American Cento " were in a bold modern typeface," Comprising " was in a shaded face, and the " Miscellanies, Poetry, and Anecdotes" was in a face strongly resembling the Stymie of our own time. " Greenfield," Mass." was set in italic capitals. The volumes were probably indexed originally, as are all of Munsell's scrapbooks, but as the original covers are missing, it is likely that the indices as well as some of the last pages were lost. As the title page indicates, the volumes included poems, anecdotes, tales of curious

54

JOEL

MUNSELL

happenings, as well as brief historical and geographical items, all arranged in two columns on each page. The scissors were used liberally: no space was wasted, for as soon as one clipping ended, the next one began, even it meant cutting off the top two or three lines from the next clipping to fill out the page. A good number of the clippings came from newspaper columns entitled " Miscellany " as many of the newspapers of the day reprinted a variety of small articles under that heading. Such poems as " The Pilgrimage of Life," " The Fisheress," " To Stella," " O d e " (commemorating the Battle of Bunker Hill), " Religion," " The Bar Room and Piano," and a short anecdote about " a good wife " were all placed on the first page of volume one of " The American Cento." Among the articles are found such titles as " American Bears," " A Squire of Queen Anne's Time," " Europe in 1 8 2 5 , " " Maxims of an Old Maid," " The Beggar and Banker," an anecdote about James V , and a geographical account of New Holland. Most of the poems and anecdotes are ananymous; even the newspapers from which they were clipped are unknown. In many cases, however, the names of the papers in which they appeared were prefixed or appended to the clippings so that the New Y o r k Evening Post, the Dover (N. H . ) Republican, the Cincinnati Gazette, the New Y o r k Gazette, and a host of others are represented in the volume. The second volume differs little from the first. In this volume several poems appeared under the name of the author, all by the popular poetess, Felicia Hemans. The first volume has some articles marked with " x " in pencil while both volumes have some marked with parentheses. These articles had especially caught Joel's fancy and were to be among those he selected for reprinting when he was to become a partner in an Albany newspaper. During the following year, 1826, Munsell filled up two more volumes, the titles of which he expanded to " The American Cento and General Repository." The typography of the title page was improved by the elimination of some of the different typefaces but it was more flowery perhaps in keeping with

APPRENTICE

IN

GREENFIELD

55

the more imposing title. The clippings in these two volumes are very much like those in the first two. A rare example of a work by an important author whose name is mentioned, is the inclusion of a poem by Robert Southey in the third volume. The fourth volume has, in addition to American newspaper clippings, some articles reprinted from the London Mirror and the London Literary Gazette. When judged by current standards of good literature, the clippings in Joel's early scrapbooks are just so much trash. However, they represent a cross-section of the matter then appearing in newspapers." One might venture to add that much of the poetry and trivia that appear in contemporary daily papers are equally unworthy of preservation. By a curious coincidence, the very first issue of the Post after Munsell was hired contained the following article: Literary curiosity—A small book has lately been published by Messrs. Wilder and Campbell of New York entitled " The private journal kept by Madam Knight, on a journey from Boston to New York in the year 1804, from the original manuscript." The manuscript has long been in the possession of a family in Hartford, who preserved it as a curious literary relic, without any intention of publishing it This was Munsell's first introduction to the famous account of travel in New England which has since been reprinted on numerous occasions, including an edition in 1865 printed by none other than Joel Munsell himself.18 On December 7, 1826, the day he left the Franklin Post, Munsell began to work for the Greenfield Gazette and Franklin County Advertiser, then owned by John Denio. The new job proved much more attractive and the hours of work were shorter. A s did many an early printer from colonial days down, Denio kept a bookstore in connection with his printing 17 Joel Munsell, T h e American Cento, Greenfield, Mass. Public L i b r a r y ) , 1825-1826, vols. I - I V . 18 Franklin Post and Christian Freeman, May 31, 1825.

(New

York

56

JOEL

MUNSELL

plant. This gave Joel a much desired opportunity to read on a much wider scale than before.19 It was at this time that the eighteen year old Joel's grappling with the eternal problems of mankind resulted in a soul stirring experience, He wrote, I now come to speak of an event in my life of the first magnitude, to which I have not before alluded and which were it to come to the public would cause many a brow to lower. It is my conversion from Christianity to Deism. I had been educated a Christian [Munsell had written " Unitarian Christian " but then drew a line through the word " Unitarian "] in the strictest sense of the word. My mind had been crowded and confused with all the mysteries and priestcraft of the day. Three times I had read the bible through and could see comparatively few of its absurdities and inconsistencies, owing to the early and deep impression that had been made on my mind of their divine origin. But yet many things even then seemed wrong and as I grew older and better informed I rid myself of many of the superstitious notions that had audience among the multitude. On going to Greenfield I became more acquainted with the arts and intrigues practised by the Priesthood and I better saw the effect it had upon Society. Even that small village, small as it was, was split into four different societies, possessing the utmost hatred and malignity for each other. The people were impoverished to build churches and pay preachers, society had been entirely destroyed, and private families set by the ears. In a wordy warfare between the Unitarians and Trinitarians, through the medium of the Freeman on one side and the Herald and Boston Recorder on the other, I heard frequent mention of Paine and his works which produced a desire to see them. Thereupon Joel borrowed a copy of The Age of Reason from an apprentice in the Gazette office, who was a professed Deist. So great already was his interest in the history of printing that he briefly interrupted his narrative to note that the copy was 19 Munsell, Diary, I, 41.

APPRENTICE

IN

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57

one of the first American editions and that it had been published by the famous printer, Isaiah Thomas, of Worcester. H e continued, The perusal of this completely opened my eyes. I was astonished that I could so long have been a dupe to such monstrous absurdities. Whoever has read Paine's Age of Reason, however good a Christian he may be, must have had his faith sorely shaken by the force of his arguments; and but fain could, after an attentive perusal, notwithstanding his early impression and strict education in the principles of Christianity and deep-rooted prejudices growing therefrom, return to the forms and ceremonies of Christian worship with the same zeal and sincerity as before. There is a solid sound sense seldom to be met with in anyone else, and the peculiar manner in which it is drawn up is admirably calculated to produce the desired effect. It is addressed to the commonest understanding — plain — no unnecessary words to give it ornament—every stroke tells. I had often wondered myself how anyone could doubt the religion of the country, but I found, upon reading this how true the least authenticated tale may be deemed until another is told.20 Until this time, Joel had regularly attended church and had prayed daily although he had, since joining the Gazette, not gone to church out of bashfulness, as he put it, of appearing before such a crowd. While he was with the Post, Saxton, w h o was interested in the moral welfare of his apprentices, had always reprimanded him for any absence from church. Joel now refused to attend altogether, although two years later he felt, In this I know I was much to blame. There is a medium to all things, but in religion people seem to push themselves in head and ears. I was then young and inexperienced, and had just entered upon a new track, and as usual in such cases, was enthusiastic. 20 Ibid., I, 35-38.

58

JOEL

MUNSELL

Joel's Deism was to wane considerably with the years although he never again regained complete unquestioning faith in any organized religion. A l m o s t in spite of himself he w a s t o continue to attend the services held by the various denominations. H e was careful to note the sermons and to comment upon them. T h e years of Joel's apprenticeship during which he rebelled at organized Christianity occurred at a time of much social, economic, and religious ferment. T h e movement f o r popular education and the extension of the suffrage had already begun. S o o n there was to be agitation for prison reform, the equalization of taxation, and the abolition of compulsory service in the militia. T h e g r o w i n g urban industrial population began to organize labor parties to advocate the ten hour day and to urge the abolition of imprisonment for debt. T h e evils of the early days of the factory system brought on a group of Utopian reformers among the most noteworthy of w h o m were the O w e n s , father and son, and Frances W r i g h t . T h e religious life of the nation also exhibited the strains and tensions of changing conditions. Unitarianism had already made considerable progress in N e w England by 1800. B y 1820 the revolutionary religious tendencies in the N o r t h manifested themselves in the beginning of the Transcendental movement. A multiplicity of new sects arose. Established churches quarrelled with their offshoots and among themselves. A m o n g the many groups which contended for popular support at that time were the Deists. A product of the A g e of Reason, Deism, contending that natural theology and rational morality were a sufficient content for religion and rejecting divine revelation and all supernatural beliefs, had made a considerable number of converts in the American colonies by the middle of the eighteenth century. Benjamin Franklin and T h o m a s Jefferson had become adherents of the new movement. 2 1 Influenced by the writings of Count Volney and T h o m a s Paine, the movement had continued to g r o w from 21 J o h n O r r , English

Deism:

(Michigan), 1934, p. 205 ff.

Its Roots

and Its Fruits,

Grand

Rapids

APPRENTICE

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59

1789 to 1805. Its growing militancy after 1783, when it began to spread from the intelligentsia to the masses, had resulted in a withdrawal of financial support by the planter and merchant classes. The increasing strength and organization of evangelical Christianity had further contributed to its decline after 1805. During the decade from 1825 to 1835, however, Deism again came to the forefront. It was now championed by the Owenite Socialists who were convinced that one way of freeing the masses from the evils of the institution of private property was to free them from the " opium " of religion. It became extremely outspoken and bitter in its denunciation of Christianity. Deism, during this decade, was moulded to suit the revolutionary aspirations of the advance guard of the discontent of the working classes. The New Harmony Gazette was used, together with other publications as a vehicle for the dissemination of the writings of famous Deists of the preceding century.22 Franklin County, Massachusetts, remote as it was in the first quarter of the nineteenth century from the intellectual centers of the nation, was not unaffected by the spirit of the times. Unitarianism, stemming from Boston, had already found its way to Northfield. The host of new ideas that were current in the latter half of the second decade found their echo via the press in Munsell's birthplace. When Munsell moved on to Greenfield, the vistas broadened and deepened considerably. There, through the medium of the various newspapers received in the printing office by exchanges and by the study of the books he found in Denio's store, his intellectual horizon was to broaden and deepen considerably. He became a more avid reader. It is significant that his diary makes no mention whatsoever of any interest in the violent political struggles or the not inconsiderable social and economic problems that faced his generation. It was the religious currents of the times, however, that had roused Joel's interest. For him the matter was of 22 Herbert M. Morais, Deism in Eighteenth 1934, pp. 8, 9 ; p. 127 footnote; p. 176.

Century

America,

New York,

60

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utmost personal importance. A s he himself had said, the Unitarian controversies in Northfield had first awakened his interest. Shortly after going to work for Denio, he had come across a copy of Count Volney's Ruins or Meditations on the Revolution of Empires. This philosophical treatise on the downfall of ancient empires, which placed no small part of the onus for the unhappiness of mankind upon organized religious bodies, had impressed Joel Munsell greatly and he praised " its superior merits." 2 3 From Volney he had gravitated toward the writings of Paine. His conversion to Deism was now complete. While in the midst of his soul-stirring religious experience, Munsell saw a notice of the publication of a new weekly deistical paper in New York, The Correspondent. Immediately he got together the subscription price and sent it to New York. The first issue of The Correspondent on January 20, 1827, announced : The object contemplated by this Journal is the diffusion of correct principles, which alone form the basis of morals and happiness.— Notwithstanding the vast number of publications that are daily issuing from the press, there is still wanting a paper which will fearlessly advocate the paramount importance of the laws of Nature, and the dignity of Reason. It has been by departing from these that good sense has been nearly banished from the earth; that mankind are in darkness as to their true interests; and that all the miseries which affect society have originated.24 The articles designed to accomplish this purpose were: an attack on the divine origin of the Scriptures; a defense of 23 Munsell, Diary, I, 41. Constantin Francois Chasseboeuf, Comte de Volney (1757-1820), French historian, traveller and politician who published works on history, geography and philosophical subjects. His Ruins appeared in 1791. An English edition had been published by W . A. Davis in N e w York as early as 1796. 24 The Correspondent,

January 20, 1827.

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Deism; an appreciation of Thomas Paine; an exposition to prove that morality does not need to depend upon revealed religion as the basis for its existence; and a discussion of political reaction in Europe that was sharply critical of the Catholic priesthood; all in the first issue. Subsequent issues continued in the same vein with the addition of lengthy quotations from the writings of Diderot and Voltaire; a sharply critical history of Christianity which was continued for several weeks; and reprints of the articles and speeches of Robert Owen, founder of New Harmony, Indiana, and Frances Wright, apostle of women's rights, free inquiry in religion, free marital union, birth control, and universal free public education. The Correspondent soon sponsored a Free Press Association which in turn became responsible for its publication. It was printed for more than a year of its two and one half year's existence at the press of George Henry Evans, who later became famous as an atheist, land reformer, and labor editor, but who, at the time of the commencement of The Correspondent, had not yet reached his twenty-second birthday. Munsell was overjoyed at receiving a paper which so closely coincided with his views at the time. The first four numbers were received and perused with the utmost avidity. I recollect the day of the mail that brought it was looked for with the greatest anxiety during the week. Nothing I ever received afforded me so much satisfaction.25 Joel was sorely troubled at the abuse heaped upon The Correspondent by the other papers. He immediately wrote a stirring defense of the paper and sent it to the editor. As a similar defense had been printed in the paper in an earlier issue, only extracts of Munsell's communication were printed. The article entitled " The Progress of I n q u i r y " appeared on February 24, 1827, under the pen name " Seneca " less than two months before Joel became twenty years old. He called attention to the progress in thinking that had been made and spoke of 25 Munsell, Diary, I, 40.

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Deism as the belief of the future. The Boston Traveller and the New York Times were attacked for being critical of the paper.28 The success of his first effort at breaking into print encouraged Munsell to continue his literary attempts. Four weeks later, on March 24, 1827, there appeared an article entitled " Heresy," this time signed with his own initials. He scathingly rebuked the sects of Greenfield, without mentioning the name of the town, for " the low artifices they employ to subvert each other's doctrines, and to render them odious in the minds of their deluded bearers ". Joel could no longer restrain his vanity with the publication of his second article. He showed it to a fellow printer who was like-minded. The latter showed it to several others. Rumor soon had it that infidels abounded. Although Joel felt sure the news got to Denio's ears, the latter took no notice of his worker's " delusions ". Once launched on his literary career, Joel Munsell continued to send articles to The Correspondent. On May 15, 1827, appeared his most ambitious effort thus far, a four column article (the pages of The Correspondent were the same size of those of the average modern novel) on " Revivals " again signed " J . M." In the vituperative language of polemical articles of the early nineteenth century, Joel claimed that those papers that propagated Christianity gave him the most "divertisement " of all papers not only by contrariety of doctrines they recognize and support, and the supercilious scurrility they are ever heaping on each other—but also by the preposterous and romantic enthusiasm with which they so plentifully abound. The whole mass is one series of the most extravagant farrago—betokening the quixotic madness of the writers.... 26 A somewhat similar article appeared the week before. A s the former was signed M. A., and there is little reason to suppose that Joel Munsell would adopt those initials, it is unlikely that he wrote that particular article. In addition, the familiarity with newspapers that " The Progress of Inquiry" showed, and its emphasis on Deism, which loomed large in Munsell's horizon at that time, make it reasonable to conclude that Munsell was the author of the " Seneca " article.

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He then inveighed bitterly against religious revivalists. The scarcity of surviving copies of The Correspondent tempts one to give yet another quotation. Regarding revivals, says Joel, the malady is brought about by some puny vagabond itinerant, prowling about from place to place, who, by his smooth-tongued insinuations, at first inveigles the conceit of a few credulous females — then strives to exasperate the ignorant multitude against his cousin german, the devil, and threatens them with the torments of hell as a just infliction of an incensed God, for their forward and incorrigible propensities.... Quite a vocabulary for a young man with little formal schooling! Joel's writing was temporarily interrupted by his removal from Greenfield, but on August n , 1827, The Correspondent used more than two of its sixteen pages for Munsell's article " Foreign Missions." The way money was supposedly wheedled out of the poor to provide a livelihood for the missionaries who, in turn, did their converts no small disservice by infecting them with Christianity, moved the young Deist to express his wrath. Munsell had now finished his career as a polemicist for The Correspondent except for an " Obituary " sent to the paper almost a year later. " Died in this city on Wednesday, the 7th instant, that paragon of piety, and nonpareil of fanaticism, yclept the Antidote-, a thing engineered in the kennels of intolerance, and brought into existence in May, 1827. Its first breath twanged the trumpet of hostility to the advocates of religious freedom; and avowed its prostitution to the cause of priestcraft." 27 Joel, busy at his scrapbooks, his reading, and the composition of articles for The Correspondent, passed the winter 27 The Correspondent, May 24, 1828. T h e article was signed I. M. which was undoubtedly a typographical e r r o r . It was marked as having been received f r o m Albany where Munsell was living. Munsell's Diary, I, 66, confirms that he wrote it.

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agreeably except for some illness. H e noted that in the spring he was attacked by " a lameness in the breast " which troubled him considerably. His employer, J o h n Denio, sold the Gazette to Alanson Clark, his former partner, and decided to open a bookstore in Albany. Joel was offered the position of clerk at the same salary he received on the Gazette. H e speedily accepted the job with the mental reservation that he would leave Denio should his salary be insufficient to maintain himself in Albany, and look for a better position. Munsell felt little love for Denio, " whose avaricious disposition did not allow him to be satisfied with independence m e r e l y " , but was taking the opportunity to leave Greenfield for a city which offered greater possibilities. Reports came in that smallpox was raging in Albany. Joel had himself inoculated and convalesced from the ill effects at Gill, midway between Northfield and Greenfield, where his family had moved only a short time before. On April 30, 1 8 2 7 , Joel left for Albany. H e walked the six miles f r o m Gill to Greenfield where he took the stage. This was as tedious a journey as I ever undertook. Roads bad in the extreme and accommodations of the worst kind. After paying an exorbitant fare, the roads were in many places so steep that we were under the necessity of ascending afoot. It was the first time I had ever made a journey in the stage, and, of course had to learn that he who waits for ceremony among stage passengers must comfort himself with the worst seat. Joel sat on the outside most of the way in the face of a raw wind. A f t e r many accidents and breakdowns, he arrived at Sand L a k e in the evening. There he found Denio who had started out the day before in a wagon. They remained overnight and the next day rode the ten miles into Albany together. 28 28 Munsell, Diary, I, 41-43.

CHAPTER III JOURNEYMAN PRINTER W H E N Joel left Greenfield, he was nineteen years old. The two years he had spent there had been very important ones for him. He had learned the rudiments of his craft, he had furthered his education, and he had embarked upon activities that were to continue throughout his life. H e had succeeded in breaking away from his rural background and had equipped himself with a skill which would enable him to earn a living in an urban center. For the next few years he was to perfect his knowledge of printing while undergoing the strains of late adolescence. H e was to be assailed by the doubts and the restlessness typical of his years. Removed though he was from parental guidance, he nevertheless had sufficient strength within himself to concentrate on worthwhile objectives. Unlike his fun loving father, young Joel was serious, introspective, and ambitious.

Munsell found Albany to be much larger than he had expected. As he rode down North Market Street, on entering the city, it equalled the picture he had formed in his mind of the magnificent streets of London. He put up at the City Coffee House, and sallied forth after breakfast to walk around the city to see the sights. The masts of the sloops soon drew his attention to the river. The sight of twelve steamboats on the river fascinated him. Previously he had seen a steamboat that had ascended the Connecticut River but " it was a mere shadow compared to these." 1 In two or three weeks, Denio's books arrived after being water borne (down the Connecticut River, through Long Island Sound into New York waters, whence they were shipped up the Hudson River). In the meantime Joel took advantage of the opportunities to see all the " curiosities " and to familiar1 Munsell, Diary, I, 44, 45.

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ize himself with the city. He kept up a considerable correspondence with his friends. The work in the bookstore, when the latter finally opened, was very agreeable. Denio was disappointed with the small number of customers and grew very crusty and fretful. Joel determined to control himself and take no notice of Denio's humor. As Joel had drawn wages several weeks in advance while waiting for the bookstore to open, he felt himself completely under Denio's power — Denio on his part took full advantage of the situation. In addition, the very small wages that he received made him exercise the strictest economy. Joel made the best of a bad situation as long as he could. In August he found a temporary job, though a poor one, at a printing establishment. He took this opportunity of leaving the book store and its increasing unpleasantness, for Denio had begun to accuse Joel of pilfering merchandise and money which Denio would misplace or fancy he had missed. Nevertheless Munsell was recalled by Denio when the latter had to return to Greenfield temporarily. Toward the end of November, 1827, Munsell finally found a printing job. He was hired to work on the National Observer, a violent anti-Masonic paper edited by the famous Albany printer, Solomon Southwick. The paper was then issuing two thousand copies per edition. While working on the Observer, Munsell came into contact with Microscope, a paper issued from the same office. It was then doing quite poorly although it had been very popular in the northern part of the state.2 Munsell described the Microscope in the following words, It commanded the respect of all and the vicious lived in fear of it. Impartial in its strictures upon the irregularities of society, the rich and consequential did not escape castigation when deserving. A " bigoted priest " who " was prowling about the city " had, after a three months stay in Albany, published an account in 2 Ibid.,

pp. 45-53.

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the Christian Register of his work in reforming wayward young men. Munsell took up his pen to write a bitter criticism of the cleric for the Microscope. Perhaps the fact that this paper accepted and printed Munsell's diatribe made him respect its independence. The article, in the form of a letter to the editor, appeared on November 3, 1827. After berating the Reverend William Bacon for his impudence, he called attention to another work by the same author. " The appelation, then of this concatenated compound of fudge and'fanaticism, is ' Salvation made S u r e ' . " Munsell proceeded to denounce the work in no gentle fashion. His reverendship moreover has the modesty to tell us that it is a compilation from other authors, reserving to himself only a few " original ideas." Dunder and blixem! Mr. Editor, does the dunce think anyone would own the trash after it had been through his hands, that he should hesitate to father it ? Joel signed the effusion " Seneca," the pseudonym he had used once before in The Correspondent.3 He was still waging his battle with what appeared to him as religious cant. Since coming to Albany, Munsell had been revolving in his mind the idea of publishing a small paper of his own. A job as pressman at two dollars a day on the Masonic Record, where he started work in December, 1827, after having been with the Observer for a month, enabled him to carry out his plan. He bought a second hand font of type and obtained some materials from the Observer office as his month's wages had not yet been paid. Denio offered the use of his store as a place to do the composition. Denio had in mind that Munsell would be in the store while his clerk went for his meals. The paper was to be issued twice a month on a half sheet Royal octavo made up to form eight pages. One day Joel set out along North and South Market Street where, by dint of his earnest enthusiasm, he procured a hundred and fifty subscribers at thirtyseven and a half cents per quarter. He prepared the copy during 3 A l b a n y Microscope,

N o v e m b e r 3, 1827.

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his leisure time, set it up in Denio's shop and ran it off on a Ramage press at night in the Masonic Record printing shop.4 On January x, 1828, appeared the first issue of the Albany Minerva. Its name may have been borrowed from the New Y o r k Minerva whose clippings Munsell had been placing in his scrapbooks. 5 The first five pages consisted of a series of short stories under a section labelled " Popular Tales." The first, " The Forsaken, a Tale of Italian History " , was a love story full of melodrama. " The Burning Pine ", reprinted from the Trenton Emporium, told about a forest fire. A long tale, " The Rifle ", by William Leggett, that was to run in installments for the next four editions, and which was copied from The Atlantic Souvenir, published by Carey, Lea, and Carey in Philadelphia the year before, followed " The Burning Pine." On the sixth page, Munsell explained the purpose of the paper. In presenting our first number, it is unnecessary to enumerate the claims it may have to a portion of the publick patronage. The utility of a periodical of this character which shall not be crowded with political intelligence and other topics wholly uninteresting to literary readers, needs no argument to enforce it. Such a work, composed of judicious selections from the best literary works, and afforded at so cheap a rate as to come within the reach of every person of taste, cannot fail of support from an enlightened and liberal publick; and such it will be our endeavor to make the Minerva. Believing that a charitable allowance will be made for the difficulties attending the establishment of a new work, we offer the present number with all its deficiencies, not as a specimen of what the work will be, but as a beginning, which it is our 4 Joel Munsell, Bibliolhcca Munsclliana, Albany, 1872. p. 2. Joel himself records here that he was then working as a clerk in a bookstore. However, his autobiographical sketch in his diary, written five months after the events occurred, states clearly that he was then employed on the Masonic Record and clerked in Denio's store only when he happened to be there setting type. 5 Munsell, The American Cento, II, 12 ( N e w York Public Library). A lengthy tale about " The Exile of the Alleghany " is clipped from a paper that had reprinted it from the New York Minerva. There are also other items from the same paper.

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intention to improve both in appearance and substance, as soon as possible, so as to meet the approbation of the most scrupulous. Their patience is what we now crave, their applause we shall ask for hereafter. T h e remainder of the first issue contained, under the heading " V a r i e t y , " a series of short anecdotes, including a tale concerning an otherwise unidentified K i n g Francis, and one concerning A r a b guides. T h e last page w a s entirely devoted to poetry. " T h e L a i r d O ' C o c k p e n , " by S i r W a l t e r Scott, is the only poem by a well-known writer. T h e issues of the Minerva

remind one immediately of Joel

Munsell's scrapbooks where hundreds of the same kind of tales, anecdotes, and poems, are found. T h e second issue w a s much like the first and even Munsell himself w a s aware of the lack of variety for he again craves the indulgence of his subscribers, this time for not h a v i n g had the time to make the promised improvements. Joel's interest in other publications emerges in the announcement on the editorial page of the publication of a new literary weekly, The

Bower

of Taste,

in Boston. T h e

third issue contained some minor changes in appearance but continued to be very much like its predecessors. W i t h the single exception of the notice of the new paper, the Minerva

had been strictly a literary paper until the fourth issue

when, at the bottom of a page, just as the paper w a s g o i n g to press, Munsell inserted in small type that " rumour reached us " of the death of Governor D e W i t t Clinton. W h e n Munsell published his list of imprints in 1872, he w a s proud to recall that this issue of his paper, which came out on F e b r u a r y

12,

1828, carried the news of Clinton's death at the same time as the daily papers. T h e seventh number, on M a r c h 25th, contained an article dealing with some disasters the Greeks had recently suffered in their w a r for independence, with an editorial comment reminding his readers of the ancient struggles of the Greeks to achieve liberty. T h i s number also contained a notice concerning the A l b a n y theater. Munsell's interest in the drama further manifested itself in an article containing

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an apologia for the existence of the theater. T h e last issue, on April 8th, continued the trend toward including current news by the insertion of several marriage and death notices. Typographically, the Minerva suffered because of battered type and hurried composition and presswork. T h e makeready was so poor that some pages were printed lighter than others and there were variations within the page. Occasional lines were not flush with the margin and, as time for reading proof was very short, there were errors in typesetting that more careful proofreading would have corrected. A s Munsell himself wrote, the year before he died, " I was editor, compositor, proprietor, pressman, and all hands" . 6 The Minerva had a gratifying success and Munsell was so pleased that he began to think of making it a permanent paper. Originally, he had hoped merely to get sufficient subscribers to cover his expenses and thus satisfy an " idle whim " as he called it, without incurring any loss to himself. Actually, the Minerva paid its own way, even leaving him a small profit. However, the work proved to be too much for Munsell. A s he frequently had to remain up until nearly twelve o'clock at night, I contracted a habit of stimulating rather beyond moderation. Not so as to injure my health, it operated heaviest upon my purse. The consciousness of extravagance was silenced with the excuse that my application to business required it. The editor of the Record, a young man, was as fond of keeping up his spirits by pouring spirits down as myself and we generally adjourned together at about 12 at night to some comfortable cellar for a carousal. Joel's companion, a former schoolmaster, soon grew overbearing, and even began to interfere with his work on the 6 Albany Minerva, January I, 1838, to A p r i l 8, 1828; Joel Munsell to T . H . Marreth, February 28, 1879. Manuscript letter tipped into a bound volume of the A l b a n y Mineri'a (Typographical Library, Columbia University).

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Record. The end of the quarter approached and Munsell was still hesitating whether to continue with his little paper to which he had become attached. While thus in doubt, John Denio, his former employer, again asked Munsell to take charge of the bookstore as the previous clerk had left. Munsell owed Denio twenty dollars which the latter had lent to him when he began the Minerva. Joel's friends advised him to have compassion for Denio and to take the job or Denio would have to shut up shop since he could neither trust it to a stranger nor run it himself as he had just begun to publish a daily newspaper. Joel had some misgivings because of his previous difficulties with Denio. However, he accepted the job at a commission of ten per cent of sales, which would be about three dollars a week and board. On April 7, 1828, he was again back in the bookstore; the next day the last issue of the Minerva came out. He continued to work for the Masonic Record office occasionally before the store was opened, after it was closed, or on Sundays. Joel Munsell now applied himself to the work of the bookstore. He began again, as usual, to take stock of himself. So deeply was he impressed by the reading of a biography of George Washington that he decided to follow the first President's example in keeping a diary. At the end of his first day's record, he wrote, So ends my first day's journal, the which I set myself about noting down for the laudable purpose of seeing what I did with my time. Not that the events of my life are of the most momentous importance, but that they may serve to secure at some future period of my life, when a retrospect of my past conduct may be made to guide me in my future. And as I feel that I shall never blush or regret to have employed my time as I now do generally, so a record of it may excite in me a pride of it, and perhaps recall me to a like industry, should I ever fall from my present economy of time.7

Careful plans were made for his next year's activity. 7 Munsell, Diary, I, 55-61.

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Munsell may well be pardoned for his pride in the way he spent his time for the remainder of the year. Normally he rose at half past five or six o'clock and went to the store where he occupied himself with his scrapbooks. H e would return to his boarding house at eight for his breakfast. He frequently stopped at the postoffice en route to collect papers or letters. B y nine o'clock he was back at work in the store. A t noon he ate his dinner and usually managed to crowd in an hour of study. The store was closed at six when he retired for " tea " as the evening meal was called. The next few hours were often spent in studying by himself or with a tutor. H e was in bed by ten or ten-thirty. 8 The work at the store was not very arduous for there was much time left for reading and study. During the next few months he read widely for his own education and for his amusement. H e followed up the biography of Washington with the life story of the actor, George Frederick Cooke. He enjoyed the work thoroughly but admitted that he was probably partial to it because of his love for the theater. A few days later he was reading the poems of Robert Burns, to be followed by Ovid's Art of Love. On various occasions he " looked into " Shakespeare, read " Rip V a n Winkle " in the Sketch Book, the Dialogues of Plato, and many collections of plays. He noted that he disliked the play, Paul and Virginia, as much as he enjoyed the novel from which it was taken. He continued to read biographies; the lives of Mmes. de Stael and de Genlis were next on his list. Munsell began to add volumes to his personal library. Already he possessed several volumes of scrapbooks which he had started in Greenfield and it is likely that he had begun to buy books at that time. Among his purchases now were the three volumes of the Atheneum or Spirit of the English Magazines, Ainsworth's Dictionary, and several volumes of comic 8 The ensuing account of Munsell's activities during the latter part of May and the months of July and August of 1828 are a composite picture drawn from pp. 61-112 of the first volume of his Diary.

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plays. On the way to the boarding house where he lived, he stopped off at other bookstores to look over their offerings. Now more than ever he interested himself in his scrapbooks. He continued to receive The New England Galaxy with which he had become acquainted while in Greenfield. Carefully he filed each issue. The Galaxy was then edited by Joseph Tinker Buckingham with whom he was to correspond many years later. One single trip to the post office on May 2, 1828, brought the New Harmony Gazette, The Talisman, and The Genius of Intemperance. The latter two he had exchanged when editing the Minerva, and they still kept coming. His interest in the New Harmony Gazette coincided with his radical religious views as he had expressed them in The Correspondent, to which he still subscribed. Four days later came the Massachusetts Moralist which he had also been receiving in exchange. T o the note in the margin of the Moralist, " W e have not received yours for some time," Munsell commented that he felt pretty confident that they would not for some time to come. The same day he received the prospectus of a new paper to be called The Busy Bee. " A s I like all publications of this description, partly for their independence, gave my patronage to it," he noted. In addition to reading the radical religious press, he took occasion to gnash his teeth at the conservative Christian Register. A s part of his daily fare he read the Chronicle, published by his employer and the Albany Daily Advertiser. His connection with Masonic Record made still other daily papers available. His newspaper files began to mount to huge proportions. From time to time they would be sent out to be bound. On July 19, 1828, he recorded, For two years I have been taking much pains in collecting a copy of all the different papers published in the Union, and indeed, the world. The number I have procured already amounts to upwards of 400. It is an unprofitable task. Nevertheless he continued his collecting until he was to amass a hundred bound volumes.

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Munsell now had the time to fill in some of the deficiencies in his formal education. Early in June he had bought a Latin grammar and diligently set himself to the task of learning Latin. Very often when business was poor he would spend the better part of the day studying. He had hired a tutor and went several evenings a week to recite his lessons. As he normally did not report to the tutor until eight o'clock, and the store was closed at six, Joel had time to put in another hour of study after the evening meal. Several years later he was reading and translating from the French. And still later, when his interest in local Albany history grew, he learned Dutch in order to read the old documents. Joel Munsell had continued to maintain his relationship with the Masonic Record and worked there occasionally. On Sunday, May 18, for example, he arose at five o'clock and worked at the press until eight. The next day he reported in the evening to wet down some paper. At that time paper still had to be moistened before it received the impression of the type. T h e following Sunday he again worked early in the morning. As his earnings from the bookstore were meager, the extra income was most welcome. Even small expenditures seemed important enough for Munsell to record. Items such as a haircut and the purchase of a pair of " pantaloons " were marked down. In the midst of busy weeks spent at work and in study, Munsell developed a large correspondence. He must have sent hundreds of letters asking for sample copies of newspapers. He wrote long letters to J . E . Whitcomb, his former fellow apprentice on the Franklin Post. Once he filled three and one half pages of foolscap in answering a letter to one of his sisters. Occasionally communications were sent to the editors of papers to which he subscribed. His letter writing was to grow to huge proportions in later life. His republication of a single work, Isaiah Thomas' History of Printing, was to result in a correspondence of upwards of two hundred letters! Hundreds upon hundreds of Munsell's business communications are still

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to be found in the files of historical societies and institutions of learning with which he had dealings. Munsell maintained his keen interest in religious matters. It was during this period that he wrote his last article for The Correspondent, an obituary notice for the Antidote. Upon reading a tirade against the deistical society in Boston, in the Christian Register, Munsell remarked, on June i, that whereas a year and a half ago there was only one such society at New Harmony, now there were many. The growth of religious liberty pleased him. One evening in July he enjoyed discussing religion with his fellow boarders who were nearly all Universalists and with whom he agreed on the whole. Our hostesses were rigid Presbyterians and no doubt are sometimes shocked at the idle talk of their boarder. For my own part I have too much respect for their sentiments to intrude my own when the subject is called up in their presence. Although he was keen on religious matters, political affairs seemed not to interest him. The nomination of Andrew Jackson for the presidency had greatly excited the workingmen or mechanics. Munsell's only reaction was to complain that his reading was disturbed by a mob of patriotic Jackson followers who were firing guns to celebrate a victory in ward elections. When Russia and Turkey went to war, Munsell merely noted that he set up the correspondence that took place between the two countries before the outbreak of hostilities. Munsell now became an ardent theatergoer. On May 26, 1828, he saw William Forrest play in Rip Van Winkle. Thereafter he frequently went to the theater after the day's work was over. Once a collection was taken up at the theater for the relief of a printer's widow. In the list of contributors were three actors who had been printers. There have many others played here this season who left the profession for the stage. I presume there is no one profession which has produced so many men of note as

;6

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MUNSELL

the art of printing. And there are few among which so many abandoned and profligate are to be found. But owing to the decrease of work and a multiplicity of journeymen they are obliged to keep within narrower bonds in order to procure employ'—'hence they are fast reforming. Generally two plays were performed each evening. Once on returning to the theater between plays, Munsell handed in a box ticket instead of a check. A few nights later he waited at the theater until ten o'clock when the first play was over and then " smuggled the check I retained instead of the box ticket a few nights since upon the doorkeeper." As the spring drew to a close and summer set in, visits to the theater became more frequent to the extent that often several evenings within the week were spent there. Even Sundays were busy days. There were the hours spent in the printing office of the Masonic Record, some time spent in reading and studying, and visits to the postoffice to get the newspapers. Often he would take a nap late in the morning, especially on Sundays when he rose at half past five. On one occasion, after doing some reading in the store, some quires of the Minerva served as a bed. Roger Newton, scion of an established Greenfield family, whose acquantance Munsell had made during his apprenticeship, had become Joel's closest Albany friend.9 The two young men would spend time together walking about the city, and " in conversation," especially on Sundays. There were other diversions, such as going on board an oyster smack to eat a dozen oysters, visiting the piers to watch the steamboats, and climbing Buttermilk Falls. One Sunday in June he crossed the river for the first time on a 9 Caroline G. Newton, Rev. Roger Newton, Deceased 1683; and one Line of His Descendants, Milford, Connecticut, 1912. The first Roger Newton had come to America in 1638 and went later to live with the Reverend Thomas Hooker who had founded Hartford in 1636. He later became a minister. One of his descendants was the Reverend Roger Newton who was ordained as minister in Greenfield in 1761 and who served there more than fifty years. Munsell's friend was probably a descendant of Reverend Roger Newton's older brother John who had joined him in Greenfield.

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steam ferry. O n another he wrote that he ate his first dinner in t w o months, so busy had he been. A s the weather g r e w warmer, part of the day w a s spent in swimming. Occasionally there w a s opportunity even during the week days to give some time to various diversions. O n several occasions he records stopping at the apothecary shop to drink a glass of soda or mead, sometimes in the company of a friend. W h e n his w o r k i n g hours became m o r e irregular, he found time on a Saturday to w a l k about the city with the son of Governor Pitcher. O n July 3, he spent all of one hour " firing crackers " to help celebrate Independence D a y . Fortunately for him that he fired his crackers one day early as he spent the Fourth on a printing j o b which he had obtained. In his early days at the store he bought a jewsharp w i t h which to amuse himself. T h e next day he wrote, " G a v e very flattering tokens of an excellent ear for m u s i c ! " But he probably gave it up quickly since he never mentioned it again. Sometimes long discussions with his fellow boarders kept him from reading or studying. Munsell showed little interest in the opposite sex at this time although he was twenty. O n l y twice were girls mentioned during his early months in A l b a n y . O n c e he awoke to find a servant girl in his room. W h e n she fled from the room on seeing him awake, he " found it rather cute." It must have amused him to find someone more shy than he was. O n e Sunday in July, when his w i n d o w w a s open, he lay down for a nap upon a bed exposed to the street. Several young ladies passing on the opposite side appeared much edified by the spectacle. A t 8 stood before the office when they passed again and from the good natured expression of their countenances, suspect they recognized me. Unsophisticated Joel to be so impressed by mere recognition! T h e strain of w o r k and study would sometimes tell on him. He very carefully noted in his diary minor matters affecting

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his health. H e complained several times of suffering from w e a k eyes. Occasionally he mentions attempts at reading that failed because of drowsiness. Less than t w o months after his twentieth birthday he w a s Considerably mortified on looking into the glass to observe the rapid growth of white hairs that began to appear behind each ear about three years ago, and are now spread all over the back of my head. Can't account for it. A t this time the store w a s at 323 N o r t h Market Street. T h e boarding house where he and Denio lived w a s at 86 S o u t h P e a r l Street. Joel enjoyed the mile walk to the store as he felt at the time that it was his only exercise. Munsell's curiosity w a s aroused by unusual

occurrences.

H e visited a mineral spring that had been discovered at a depth of 500 feet in boring for a water supply for a brewery. H e recorded that it w a s the first attempt of that kind to secure w a t e r in this country. H e witnessed the launching of the new D e W i t t Clinton steamboat, but w a s disappointed.

Stormy

weather w a s carefully noted. Once when aroused by the cry of fire at t w o o'clock in the morning, he dressed and went to see where the fire was. W h e n another fire broke out in the middle of the night at A l b a n y ' s first steam engine factory, he refused this time to interrupt his sleep. Joel had completed three months as clerk in the bookstore w h e n another of the many quarrels with Denio arose. T h i s time Munsell w a s shocked and hurt to be accused of responsibility for a shortage

of twelve dollars in the accounts.

Munsell

showed Denio his o w n personal account books as well as that of the store in a vain effort to prove his honesty. H e lay a w a k e at night trying to account for the missing money. T h e next m o r n i n g he went over Denio's account only to discover that the latter had made an error in calculation. But when Joel pointed out the discrepancy

in accounts,

admit his error. Joel remarked bitterly,

Denio refused

to

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He that's convinced against his will Is of the same opinion still.10 Munsell offered, however, to work off the disputed sum, or to get another job and repay the money from his salary. This is the most troublesome accident I ever experienced. If ever I regretted that I was born, it is now. O the misery of mind to be accused of a crime, when innocent, without the power of proving that innocence, lamented Joel. Denio now proposed that Munsell go to work on the Morning Chronicle which he was publishing in association with Beach and Richards. Although the proposed salary, seven dollars a week, was one dollar under the regular wages, Joel readily agreed, even though the thought suddenly struck him that Denio had created the whole fuss to get rid of his employee since he brought in a boy to replace him at the store, presumably at a much lower wage. The matter settled, Joel walked about the city " to dissipate my injured feelings ". In the evening he visited the Athenaeum meeting room. That night he consoled himself with seeing a play, Charles II, or the Merry Monarch and a performance of a troupe of French dancers. The next day, June 12, 1828, found Munsell again at work as a journeyman printer, this time at Chronicle office. He continued to work at the Masonic Record during leisure hours and on days when there was little work to do on the Chronicle. T o be nearer his work, he moved to 31 Maiden Lane. Otherwise his activities continued much the same as before. Although there was now less time to study during the working hours of the day, he made up for it by using some of the early morning hours. Five days after changing his occupation, he noted that he arose at half-past five in the morning and went to the office where he studied his grammar for the next two hours. 10 The line in Oliver Goldsmith's Deserted Village reads: " Even though vanquished will argue still."

80

JOEL

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S i x weeks later, on Saturday, J u l y 26, Joel presented a final accounting. H e figured that he had more than repaid Denio, but suspected that the latter would again make difficulties. Denio took Munsell's accounting and promised to compare it with his own. Joel's fears were not unfounded. On Monday, Denio claimed that Munsell now owed him twenty-six dollars. A t wits' end, he unburdened himself to his diary, I cannot really persuade myself that the man is so barefaced a knave as to wish to defraud me—but I should feel confident of such designs if I thought his weak intellect capable of so deep laid cunning. I know it is his custom to stick to everything in this way—as I have witnessed it in his dealings with others. It would seem that he entertained an idea that everyone around him was endeavoring to ruin him — and everyone is distrusted. His torture of mind seems to be almost insupportable. It has preyed upon him till his face has grown wan and meager and his cheeks incline inwards till they nearly kiss each other I dread the consequences that must ensue at a settlement. I cannot brook to be borne upon as before. My spirit is not so numb as to hear unmoved, the vile insinuations repeated which he threw out before: and yet much depends on my prudence. If I lose my situation, I know not what to do with myself. All my wages—with the exception of barely enough to pay my board, he has monopolized. In consequence of which I have borrowed sums of money with the promise that they should be paid out at this time. Out of money—out of employ—a ruined character—O tis too horrible to think of. The schemes I have laid for future conduct, many of them depend upon the issues of this event. O ! Denio! Denio! You little think of the feelings that rankle in my heart. You little know the sufferings your unfortunate disposition and narrow-mindedness have caused in one who has ever took an interest in your prosperity, and who would have been the last to take advantage of you. But the last link of kindly feeling is now broken. I have borne and foreborne, until all forbearance was degrading and as I look back to all the inconveniences I have been made to suffer—setting

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aside all other things, the more I feel incited to resist this doubly degrading oppression—both mental and corporeal— and abide the consequences. . . . The dispute dragged on for several days. Denio went so far as to instruct the clerk in charge of such matters to withhold Joel's salary. Eventually another settlement was agreed upon wherein Denio seems again to have gotten the better of the bargain. 11 The summer of 1828 passed uneventfully. Munsell was forced to make greater efforts to keep up with his reading, which, of necessity, had been somewhat curtailed since he had left the bookstore. The hours between his rising and the beginning of work were usually devoted to his scrapbooks and newspapers. This is a rather frivolous business, but as my mind turns that way, I must follow it. If no other benefit is derived from it, it serves to get me out of bed an hour or two earlier than I should otherwise get out, and keeps me out of mischief, wrote Joel late in July. His conscience, however, continued to trouble him and less than two weeks later he Fell into profound reverie. Question—whether it would not be a little better use of time to spend my mornings in reading? Answered myself in the negative:—the why and wherefore being 1st—That the time I already spend reading is too much for the good health of my eyes. 2nd That I had learned from experience that reading in the morning was injurious to my eyes. 3rd That whereas I employed all my leisure time in study except mornings, it would not be very reprehensible in me to indulge in some whimsicalities. And this is a whimsicality not wholly frivolous—could not be called time thrown away.12 Joel continued to visit the postoffice to receive newspapers and letters. Many hours were spent in correspondence. The 11 Munsell, Diary, I, 113-122. 12 Ibid., pp. 123-4.

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JOEL

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study of Latin was continued during the hot summer months. T o w a r d the end of the summer he began to study geography. He had subscribed to an edition of Malte-Brun's Universal Geography, the first volume of which arrived on September 2. 13 O n Friday, August 22, he visited the theater in the evening. O n Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of the next week, he again spent his evenings at the theater—the last evening in the company of a friend from Greenfield. H e went to bed that night at half past twelve only to awaken again at four-thirty in the morning to escort his friend to the ferry. H e resolved thereupon not to g o to the theater again until he had caught up with his sleep but Friday again found him in the audience at a performance of King Robert the Bruce. In addition, part of his spare time was spent in reading volumes of plays. It was now almost a year and a half that Joel had been in Albany. H e decided to take a two-weeks leave of absence to visit his parents. On Saturday, September 20, 1828, he packed up some of his books which he had stored in the Chronicle office and made other preparations for the trip. O n Sunday, in company with Roger Newton, he took the 11 :oo p. m. stage for T r o y . A t 3 :oo a. m., they were at Sand Lake, at 7 :oo a. m. they passed through Hancock, and by eleven the next morning they had reached Williamstown. A t one point, when they reached the foot of a mountain, all the male passengers had to get out and walk to the crest. T o while away the time, Joel noted that Throwing off a part of my natural timidity for petticoats, I commenced conversation with the ladies and time passed very agreeably, till at length we drove up at a house in Charlemont. T h e stage reached Greenfield at 10:00 p.m. that night. Joel took a stroll with the ladies who wished to see the village and particularly the jail. Wonderful sights to behold truly! The whole village with all its wonders could be examined to the satisfaction of a moderately curious traveller from the piazza 13 Ibid., pp. 125-134.

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of the house where we put up. But who would [refuse] such a stroll to gratify a lady, tired and sleepy though he might be? And in so enviable a situation as I was who could not point out wonders where they were not, and expatiate on them an hour or two to prolong its enjoyment. But as all things have an end, so had my felicity! The imperious sound of the clock announcing the hour of twelve, told us as plain as a clock could tell that it was time we were at home. After bidding the ladies good night, accompanied by a " great boy's b o y [ " ] , set off with all the graces of an experienced gallant, and put myself to bed. Reflected upon the events of the day, and at length fell asleep. 14 T h e next day found Joel awake early in the morning. H e engaged passage for himself and his baggage to Gill, where his parents were still living. H e stopped at his father's house long enough to let them know he was back and then went on to the village, a mile beyond. F r o m the village of Gill, he took passage for Northfield, four miles further on. H e took care to be as well dressed as possible. " It was gratifying to my vanity, however boyish it may seem, that I w a s now as independent in my own estimation as the rest of them," he wrote, after carefully noting that his reputation had been bad but that he had since attained some reputation for genius and other abilities. H e maintained his slightly superior attitude toward the town. Joel started back after spending several days visiting friends and relatives. Joel's growing restlessness was to continue after his return to Albany on October 1, 1828. H i s work was now irregular. T h e month of October was spent in occasional work in the Chronicle office and for three other printers, Childs, V a n Steenbergh, and McGlashan. Roger Newton was back again in Albany, ready to join Joel for walks about the city. O n October 6, he wrote, " O u t of work again. Wandered about the streets till noon. Got employment in the afternoon at V a n Steenbergh's." H e began a letter to his friend Whitcomb 14 Ibid.,

pp. 140-166.

84

JOEL

MUNSELL

describing his trip but on October 9, he was still writing it, this effort being the third draft Idle hours were sometimes spent at the Athenaeum library or at book auctions, where he acquired a " splendid set of Don Quixotte." A collection of newspapers was taken to the binders. His work was interrupted twice, the first time when he bruised his thumb severely when it was caught between the platen and frisket, and again when he caught cold. He received a letter from Whitcomb's sister telling of the former's departure on a whaler for the South Seas. Five days later, he noted, " It is uncertain how soon I shall leave the city, but I shall, undoubtedly by the time of his return, be in some other part of the country." The heated political atmosphere of the day had little effect on him. He recorded only " Violent political times," and on November 5, after going out to learn the cause of some noise in State Street, he found a band of Adams men exulting over the election. On Saturday, November 8, at 10:00 a. m., Joel took passage on the Chief Justice Marshall for New York. As it was cold on deck, and the conversation in the cabin bored him, he borrowed the Museum oj Foreign Literature and Science. By the time he gave up reading, he found that all the berths had been taken. Even the settees and chairs were all occupied. He found some blankets, dived into an unoccupied berth and lay awake in fear of being ousted by the rightful occupant. The boat docked at midnight but Joel elected to get some sleep overnight while still on board. The next morning he arose at six and went to the City Coffee House at 10 William Street for breakfast. He tramped about the city with an Albany acquaintance whom he met by chance. He then visited the Temple of the Arts, the building occupied by the Free Press Association, sponsors of The Correspondent for their lecture. This was followed by attendance at a meeting of the Free Inquirers, a group that had seceded from the Free Press Association. Part of the next day was spen in The Correspondent office, where he indulged in " conversation on the prospect of the cause." He paid for his subscription and also for a two-year subscription

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to the New Harmony Gazette. H e wandered through the streets, feeling lonesome amid the city crowds. H e had already tried to engage return passage on a 10:00 a. m. boat, only to find that he would have to wait until 5 :oo p. m. H o w e v e r , finding Stone, a former fellow w o r k m a n f r o m A l b a n y , he decided to remain longer. H e then took the ferry to B r o o k l y n to visit the N a v y Y a r d . H e boarded The Peacock, taken f r o m the British in the W a r of 1812 and tipped a sailor to take him around the ship. In the evening he went to see a performance of The School for Scandal and The Dumb Savoyard. T h e stage set at the performance so impressed him that he listed in detail in his diary every prop and bit of scenery. O n T u e s d a y , after some more wandering about N e w Y o r k , he embarked for A l b a n y . 1 5 T h e trip to N e w Y o r k temporarily cured Munsell of his wanderlust and for the next several months he w a s content with his usual routine. O n January 13, he sat down to write a comedy! Intend to set up for an author. . . . to await the event with fear and trembling. Hope an " indulgent public " will not be blind to my m e r i t s ! . . . In the afternoon, rather more profitably employed. In the evening, set down again at my new profession. A f t e r comparing his o w n w o r k with other comedies, he felt pleased and t w o days later confided in his diary in mock seriousness, " A great pity that I did not discover my genius b e f o r e ! " Joel finished his play on F e b r u a r y

10, 1829, but

a l a s ! — i t w a s never heard of again and has since been lost to posterity. Besides the theater, there were other diversions, such as an occasional trip to the circus, the playing of dominoes in the evening, and the celebration of special events. O n N e w Y e a r ' s D a y of 1829 he " W e n t to the house of Governor V a n Buren and had the honor of grappling with him. B y the way, he's no governor of mine." O n this day he took occasion to record 15 Ibid., pp. 168-178; II. 1-28.

86

JOEL

MUNSELL

in his diary that the Dutch manners and customs were in a state of rapid revolution and that they were being mingled with those of Eastern immigrants. On Monday, December i , 1828 he stopped in at the office of the Albany Morning Chronicle. Regarding this paper, Joel wrote in his diary for that day This champion of Adamism expired with the dawn of day, Dec. 1, 1828. O temporal O m o r e s ! . . . Spent the evening with the hands of the defunct Chronicle in an oyster cellar!18 The failure of the Chronicle, on which he had done occasional work, now broke Munsell's last tie with Denio, who had maintained his partnership in the paper until its end. In later years Munsell continued to interest himself in the career of his former employer, and to engage in correspondence concerning him. On February 20, 1858, Joseph T . Buckingham, w h o was then in his seventy-ninth year, wrote Munsell in a tremulous hand, thanking him for the information Munsell had sent him about Denio and expressing sympathy for Denio's poverty. 1 7 Buckingham, who had edited the New England Galaxy and the Boston Courier, and who had mentioned Denio favorably in his Specimens of Newspaper Literature,18 had been a fellow apprentice with Denio, who was a year older than he, on the Greenfield Gazette in 1796. Munsell, in his manuscript " Chronological Record of Printing and Newspaper Changes," completed in 1861, mentions Denio's career on several occasions and in his own addition to Timperley's A Dictionary of Printers and Printing, inserted a lengthy newspaper clipping containing an account of Denio's life. 19 16 Munsell, Diary, II, 36-58. 17 Joseph T . Buckingham to Munsell, February 20, 1858, Miscellaneous Manuscripts ( N e w York Historical S o c i e t y ) . 18 Joseph T . Buckingham, Specimens 1850.

of Neiuspoper

Literature,

Boston,

19 Joel Munsell, Chronological Record of Printing and Newspaper Changes ( A m e r i c a n Antiquarian S o c i e t y ) , II, 116, 121, 323, 3 4 7 ; III, 123; Munsell, Printers and Printing, 1839-1857, p. u 14 (Munsell's unpublished

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Joel's interest in self-improvement went on unabated. His attempts at educating himself, his attitude toward religion, his willingness to assert himself, his interest in his chosen work, and his intellectual curiosity, are strongly reminiscent of Benjamin Franklin. Joel himself became aware of this similarity as well as of the resemblance of his daily habits to those of Franklin. The latter had, at the age of twenty-four, drawn up a schedule of how he should spend the twenty-four hours of the day, allowing time for study, work, recreation, and eating and sleeping.20 Joel, chancing to come across this set of rules, was struck by its correspondence to the way he spent his own time. He' carefully copied Franklin's scheme into his diary and set alongside his own division of time, which differed so little. This he recorded on December 18, 1828.21 On April 13, 1829, he wrote, This I suppose is my birthday, completing twenty-one years of my life. As I have been my own master for some time and exercised all the privileges I am now entitled to, it has come upon me without bringing any of those pleasurable sensations peculiar to those whom it relieves from a hard master. It does not seem to form a new era in my life as might be expected. I have looked forward to it not as the consummation of any particular end and it passes me as any birthday would, serving only to remind me of the fleeting of time. Celebrated it by going to the theater.22 continuation of Timperley's work by the same name, in the American Antiquarian Society). Denio continued the bookstore for at least another year. In 1832 he moved to Rochester where he printed the Rochester Gem, a literary paper, for several years. H e moved again to Medina, New York, where he purchased, in May, 1844, the Orleans County American which he published with his son, John H., until October 1851. By appointment of Governors John Young and Washington Hunt, he served as Loan Commissioner for Orleans County. He died in Albion, New York on March 3, 1859, in his eighty-first year. 20 Benjamin Franklin, Autobiography, John Bigelow, ed., Philadelphia, I975, I, 336, 237. 21 Munsell, Diary, II, 44. 22 Ibid., p. 68.

88

JOEL

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The day that Joel Munsell returned from his trip to New York, he had visited the various printing shops in search of work. The next day found him employed in the Masonic Record's printing office. T w o weeks later he was again doing some work for Van Steenbergh. In the middle of December he had almost a whole week of employment so that when he found work on Friday, December 19, he wrote, " Had the signal good fortune to get employment today." On Christmas Day he earned a day's pay by beginning promptly a job that lay waiting in an office that he had visited. He had begun the work without waiting to find out whether he was wanted. T w o days later he was again working for Van Steenbergh. Early in January he did his first work for the Albany Argus. February found him at Van Benthuysen's. Toward the end of the month Joel was flattered by the offer of a permanent position at the latter place. Van Benthuysen had a reputation for employing only the most skillful printers — and Munsell did not even have seniority among the part time printers. On March 3, the journeyman printers of Albany met in Harmony Hall to organize the Albany Typographical Society. Although Munsell had been invited, he did not record the reason for his failure to attend. On May 5, however, he paid his initiation fee and was admitteed as a member after signing the constitution. Less than three weeks later, he was chosen a member of the committee of five to revise the " by-laws " for publication. Joel's state of unrest was returning. Early in May, while working on the Argus, he turned down the offer of a permanent position. Much time was now spent with Roger Newton. He stopped at Little's store and bought a bottle of hair-dye " for the purpose of coloring my hair which is getting grey rather fast. Have little faith in the efficiency though many hopes." The next day, May 18, came a letter from an A. Rawson in Greenfield, offering Joel a partnership in the proposed Franklin Free Press. Joel refused the offer but promised to visit Rawson soon. A week later Munsell went to Van

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Benthuysen's to have his account settled. A s an inducement to remain, he was offered a permanent j o b for the following winter. But Joel was determined to leave Albany again, at least " for a time and half a time." Before leaving he stopped at the Albany Typographical Society to get a certificate of membership. O n Wednesday, May 27, at one o'clock in the morning, he boarded the stage for Greenfield. O n Thursday he was at Gill where he spent the next few days. A g a i n he makes no mention of his family. On Saturday he visited Rawson. H e advised the latter not to make his paper an anti-Masonic journal since he felt that anti-Masonry would not flourish in Franklin County. O n Tuesday he was again ready to leave—this time he was to try his fortune down the Connecticut River Valley. Joel arrived in Hartford as darkness set in. He was up and about early the next morning looking for work at the Mirror office. Thursday found him at work on the Christian Secretary. H e visited his old Northfield partner in deviltry, J. N . Prior. B y Saturday he was off again. This time he went to East Windsor to visit his father's family. He had not been there in ten years even though he had been taken there every year as a small child. Joel rhapsodized about the beauty of the countryside and the sight of well-fed animals on the way to Windsor. H e was pleased to find his grandmother at home. T h e next day, Sunday, he met a host of new cousins. H e went with the family to the Wapping meeting house to hear his first sermon in many months. H e accompanied a " bevy of female cousins " home. Monday was spent, at least in part, chatting with " maiden aunts sometime out of their teens." The next day, Tuesday, June 7, he returned to Hartford. He did not find any work and the following Monday he was back in East Windsor again. Saturday found him confessing to himself that he was restless " t h o ' not homesick." O n Monday he was back in Hartford. In Hartford the search for work began once again. Joel had planned to go to New Haven and had written several letters

go

JOEL

MUNSELL

there applying for a position. He was undecided about leaving. In the interim he took the opportunity of seeing the Charter Oak. From Tuesday to Friday he was again at work. Again the problem of whether to remain or to go troubled him. Of his first month since his arrival in Hartford, ten days had been spent with his family in East Windsor. On Monday he returned to Hartford, only to take the stage for New Haven. The next day he was fortunate in finding employment. Joel now settled down for the next half year in New Haven where he found sufficient employment and cultural opportunities to occupy his time fully. The printing plants of Babcock, Barber, Whiting, and Baldwin and Treadway employed Munsell either at typesetting or at the press. There were days when his income was as high as $2.25 or as Joel put it, " $2.25 in pocket, 3 cents out for apples." One week, when he had but little work on Saturday, he nevertheless earned twelve dollars — a sum which was more than the usual average. During the second week in December, when he complained that he " labored too hard for my health," he earned his maximum wage of $12.84.23 Not long after his arrival in the city, he began to attend a writing school to improve his handwriting. After five weeks' effort he abandoned his attempts to change his hand, and, as if to celebrate his emancipation from his drudgery during the hot summer months, he bought a flute and began to practice. He also attended a series of lectures on astronomy given on Monday evenings. Following the example of Dr. George Birkbeck, Professor of Natural and Experimental Philosophy at the Andersonian Institution of Glasgow, who had begun in 1800 to give a series of popular lectures on scientific subjects to workingmen, and who, in 1824, established the London Mechanics' Institution to carry on his courses, the young workingmen of New Haven organized the Young Mechanics' In23 Munsell's activities from April 25, 1829 to October 8, 1829 are in II, 69-105 of his Diary.

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stitute in the summer of 1826 for courses in natural philosophy, chemistry, arithmetic, geometry, grammar, and bookkeeping. 2 4 In November, he began to attend the lectures at the Y o u n g Mechanics' Institute, the first one on the subject of volcanoes, and later he became a member by subscribing to the Constitution. H e now had the privilege of borrowing books which he exercised forthwith by taking out Washington I r v i n g ' s Life of Columbus. W o r k l e s s d a y s and evenings furnished a considerable amount of time for reading. Munsell had purchased several volumes of an American edition of Conrad Malte-Brun's Universal Geography, of which an eight-volume edition was published in Boston from 1824-1831. 2 5 H e had read the early volumes before leaving Albany. H e now applied himself assiduously to the parts of the work now in his possession and spent m a n y evenings studying them. T h e Mechanics' Institute L i b r a r y also provided him with copies of Depon's Travels in South America, and Bakewell's Introduction to Geology. B y reading and attendance at lectures, Munsell was thus enabled to acquire a background in the natural sciences, in history and geography, and in literature. H e had, in addition, read to some extent in the literature of his chosen trade. T h i s part of his reading w a s to be greatly augmented as the years passed. Munsell's reading w a s all part of a conscious effort to improve himself. One entry in his diary, on November 7, reads as follows, Half past 7 came to my chamber and sat in meditation and building castles in the air. Contemplated going to A l b a n y — there to take up a residence and make a vigorous effort to 24 Charles A. Bennett, "Ancestry of Vocational Education" in Edwin A.

Lee, Objectwes

and Problems

of

Vocational

Education,

New

York,

1941, pp. 10-11; W i l l i a m Alanson Borden, A Historical Sketch of the New Haven

Young Mechanics'

25 C o n r a d

Malte-Brun,

Institute,

New Haven,

Universal

Geography,

1904. or a Description

of

All

Parts of the World, Boston, 1824-31, 8 vols. A two-volume edition was published in Boston by S. Walker 1828-9 and a six-volume edition in Philadelphia 1827-32.

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raise myself in the world—first by acquiring a knowledge of the sciences and then striking some path to " fame and felicity " and pursuing it with unremitting perseverence till the point is gained. New Haven was not nearly as interesting for Joel as was Albany. There were no evenings at the theater; there was the absence of familiar faces, and consequently, no long talks or rambles with friends. During his leisure time, when he was not studying or reading, he busied himself with his hobbies. His newspaper collections, and his preparation of scrapbooks continued unabated. Considerable time was spent in writing letters to his old cronies. During the latter half of September, he received a letter from home telling him that his brother and sister would visit East Windsor. Four days later, on Friday, September 24, he started back for the old family homestead. H e recorded little of the trip and did not even mention having seen his family. T h e following Wednesday found him back in N e w Haven. Earlier in the same month, while at work for Barber, the printer of the New Haven Columbian Register, Munsell again broke into print. O n Sunday, September 6, he recorded Principal part of the day employed in writing a communication for the Columbian Register, lampooning a schoolmaster, who published an arrogant article in that paper of last week in ridicule of Walker's orthoepy. A m no friend of Walker's absurdities, but the insignificant fellow deserves castigation for his insolence, being little better than an ignoramus. T h e article in the September 5 issue which so aroused Joel's ire was a criticism of the affected pronunciation used by a minister in a sermon that the writer had heard. T h e anonymous author, " Socius," had merely mentioned that the preacher in question had used some absurd pronunciations that " even Walker with all his Augean stable of anomalies " had given as his second choice. Stage actors were also accused of the same vice. W h y Joel was so aroused is hard to discover. Com-

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pared with his own violent denunciation of " Socius," the latter seems mild indeed. Perhaps Munsell was angered by the criticism of the acting profession. A t any rate, the next issue of the Register, on September 12, bore a lengthy diatribe against the writer, after each part of his article had been carefully dissected and combated. Munsell signed the article with the initial " C ". Barber had shown the article to several people to find out whether they thought it too severely critical before allowing it to be printed. It fell to Joel's lot to set his own article in type.28 Seemingly he took the whole matter more humorously than his article implied, for on seeing Socius' reply in manuscript in the printing shop, he decided, " Shall take no notice of it, however, as I am of the writer's opinions upon the subject, and I am as weak a writer as he is and he is a dunce.27 But even the diversion of this literary game did not serve to lessen Joel's boredom. New Haven seemed to be all work and no play. Already in October, he was complaining Felt the effects of yesterday's labor—I will not call it industry. I begin to think it slavery. Had the horrors all day and sighed for the fleshpots of old Albany. The next week, after working from six o'clock in the morning until nine o'clock in the evening all week, he wrote, " Certainly do not consult my health much." And in December, when he earned $12.84, he commented again about working too hard for his health. On January 1, 1830, he settled his account with Baldwin and Treadway. " Have been tolerably homesick for some time," he then remarked. Joel arrived in Albany on January 5, after having spent a day at East Windsor. Finding little prospects of work, he " Began to feel the effects of hypochondria." He consoled himself by playing the flute and attending church services. Ten 26 New Haven Columbian Weekly Register, September 5, 12, 1859. 27 Munsell, Diary, II, 100-102.

94

JOEL

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days later, he found a single day's work. On the fifteenth, he found a job at Packard and Van Benthuysen's. The latter had gotten into a row with his hands which had ended in his discharging four of his best journeymen. Joel was offered the place of the foreman in printing the legislative journals. He accepted the job hesitantly, thinking that he would only work a day or two and hoping that the quarrel would be patched up and that the regular employees would return. He also felt that I am not sufficiently competent to fill the place of my predecessor with equal satisfaction to my employers. Fear also that I may incur blame from journeymen, were I to accept the situation permanently. However, shall endeavor to keep it unless they come back. A t the end of the week, Joel received seventeen dollars—the " best yet." On February 15, at a meeting of the Albany Typographical Society, which Joel neglected to attend, a motion was offered to expel him for taking the job. Munsell was vindicated when the motion failed. A committee was appointed, however, to investigate the circumstances, but apparently no action followed as the committee was not yet ready to offer a report four weeks later. In the interim, Joel attended a meeting on March 2, to celebrate the anniversary of the society. During the festivities he took occasion to offer a toast to the much respected Isaiah Thomas. Joel was not sure that Thomas was still alive, although actually the octogenarian printer did not die until more than a year later, on November 4, 1 8 3 1 . Work on the journals again left Joel with little leisure. " The life I now lead is one of slavish monotony. It is one round of unremitted labor from six in the morning to eight or nine in the evening." That week he earned $18.48. Nevertheless he found opportunities to go to the theater and to book auctions. He probably began the study of French at this time as he notes the purchase of a French dictionary. He also bought a copy of Tom Jones and read Goethe's Faust. On

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95

Sunday, April 18, he visited Troy with a group of friends. " Ransacked every part of the town for novelties," he wrote. On the following Tuesday, because the Legislature was adjourning, he had a holiday. He decided to attend the last session but was considerably shocked to find that, despite much unfinished business, the legislators seemed uninterested—they were reading newspapers and were talking to each other in loud voices. More than twenty years later, he was to recall an interesting typographic effort: About this time [1830], the Rev. William B. Sprague printed his History of Revivals at the office of Packard and Van Benthuysen. I set up nearly half the types on that work. The author undertook to have a book entirely free of typographical errors. Two proofs were taken and read in the office; the author had a proof, and a revise, and stood over the form to see the errors corrected of the fifth and last sheet of proof. Yet the work was not wholly free of errors. It should be remarked that the author often took occasion to improve his style in the proofs and revises.28 A new paper, the Daily Troy Sentinel, was projected to start on May 1, 1830. Munsell secured the promise of employment with the printers a week before its first issue was to appear. The last week in April saw him finishing up his work with Packard and Van Benthuysen barely in time to catch the boat for Troy on April 30. As the State Legislature had adjourned, and as he had been working on the legislative journals, it is probable that Munsell would have been out of a job but for his foresight in securing work on the Sentinel.29 Munsell's activities for the next year and a half are more obscure than for the preceding years. The diary covering this 28 Munsell's personal annotated and interleaved copy of Timperley's A Dictionary of Printers and Printing (American Antiquarian Society). Loose sheet inserted between pages 914 and 915 near events for the year 1830. 29 Munsell, Diary, II, 105-134.

96

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period has been lost. 30 Munsell probably remained for some time in T r o y as he began the compilation of a new series of scrapbooks in duodecimo of which seven numbered volumes are extant. A t least two of these volumes were prepared while in T r o y as their title page indicates. A third undated volume contains clippings of the same period. Although six of the volumes contain the same types of short stories, poems, anecdotes, and tales as found in his earliest scrapbooks, compiled in Greenfield and Albany, the first volume is unusual in that it related to a matter of current interest. A s Joel entitled it, the volume contains an "Account of the French Revolution with an Appendix, including Anecdotes and Incidents Connected with the Revolution and a Supplement, containing a Biography of some of the Principal Actors in the Scene." The clippings in the major part of the volume are a series of connected dispatches from day to day of the events of the struggle to unseat Charles X , all taken from the same newspaper, no doubt the Sentinel.31 Eager, curious Joel Munsell could not avoid notice of such foreign events as the Greek W a r for Independence and the French Revolution of 1830. The Daily Troy Sentinel ceased publication in August, 1831. Whether Munsell remained there all this time is uncertain. The old desire to try his fortunes in other places had not yet left him, and true to the tradition of the tramp printer, some time after leaving Troy, he made his way to Boston where, for a few weeks, he set type for Isaac R. Butts in a building 30 T h e existing Historical Society ter. Mrs. Hevenor probably was lost

portions of Munsell's D i a r y came to the N e w York from Mrs. E m m a Munsell Hevenor, his younger daughis unable to account for the disappearance of vol. III. It when Munsell's property w a s dispersed.

31 Joel Munsell, Scrapbook entitled "Account of the French Revolution, Etc." (American Antiquarian Society) ; Munsell, Scrapbook entitled simply " T h e Scrapbook" (in the possession of Mr. John A . Scopes, bookdealer, 23 Steuben Street, Albany, N e w Y o r k ) . Both these books respectively, Volumes I and II of a series, are identified on the title pages as having been prepared in T r o y in 1830. Volumes III to V I I are also in the American Antiquarian Society.

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97

on the corner of School and Washington Streets." Nothing further is known of his experiences in Boston beyond the bare fact of his short period of employment there. Curiously enough, the building in which Butts' shop was located, was to become a landmark in American publishing and bookselling as the home in later years of such important firms as Ticknor and Fields and E. P. Dutton.8»

32 Joel Munsell, Typographical Miscellany. Munsell's personal interleaved and annotated copy has this notation in Munsell's hand opposite p. 256, facing a picture of a building devoted to printing and bookselling activities: " Isaac R. Butts had a printing office in the 2nd story of this building, in which I set types for him about 1829-31; for a few weeks." As Munsell's diary is complete until May 13, „1830, and does not mention any trips to Boston, his stay in that city must have been after his employment on the Sentinel. 33 Hellmut Lehmann-Haupt, The Book in America, New York, 1939, pp. 106, 182, 183, 193. The street floor houses " T h e Old Corner Bookstore" which in 1829 was owned by Carter, Hendee and Company, booksellers and publishers.

CHAPTER IV LAUNCHING HIS BUSINESS CAREER JOEL MUNSELL believed that N e w Y e a r ' s D a y and birthdays were occasions when the reflecting ought to call themselves to an account of their conduct, reviewing the past and resolving on the future. . . . It is a wise practice and cannot fail of producing a salutary consequence unless [one is] hardened in iniquity and as prone to folly as I a m . . . . I am pretty well convinced that I am as great a dunce as I was this hour, one year s i n c e . . . . The past is dreary and mournful, and the future dark and unknown. No doubt there is enough of misery in the succeeding years' probation. A s saith the primer, or Divine Watts, A s one day goes another comes And sometimes shows us dismal dooms,

I will take advantage of fate, as some wise worldling has recommended, by expecting the worst and hoping for the best. It is as philosophical a resolution as I am capable of adopting at this time. Good n i g h t ! 1 Munsell's N e w Y e a r ' s cogitations were not at all unusual for him. Munsell w a s less than four months f r o m his twentyfourth birthday when he wrote this statement on J a n u a r y

i,

1832. Perhaps the influence of the Puritan tradition and his own preoccupation with religious questions induced some soul searching. Unquestionably the feeling of inferiority developed in Northfield where he testifies to his reputation as a local hoodlum, was to remain with him. H e w a s a l w a y s to feel the necessity of proving to the Northfield citizenry that he w a s not the useless, wild youth that he felt they considered him to be. Modern psychology might also suggest that the shortness of his stature may have contributed to an inferiority complex. H o w e v e r , if Joel, half-humorously, half-seriously, really believed himself to be as great a dunce as he w a s the previous 1 Munsell, Diary, I V , 6-8.

98

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year, certainly he intended to make the most of whatever abilities he possessed and, by careful study and application, to rise in the world. H e was to do more than merely hope for the best—he was to make every effort to attain it. A s an introspective young man, he sometimes doubted whether he would succeed in his efforts, but, at other times, his boastful pride in confounding the Northfield prophets of his doom, and the delight he took in comparing his industrious, frugal and abstemious habits with those of his fellow printers, testifies to his belief that he would " make s o m e t h i n g " of himself. Joel no doubt felt that his diary would some day be read by others and, conscious of the fact that his philosphical musings might in the future appear silly, and almost as if he himself felt that he was behaving foolishly, he abruptly terminated his entry by " Good night," followed by an exclamation point. Joel's sense of humor was to save him from taking himself too seriously. When these resolves were written, Munsell was back in Albany. H e was never to leave that city again except for brief business trips or vacations. The Albany that Munsell knew at this time was a city in transition. T h e earliest record of any establishment in Albany dated back to 1 6 1 3 when the Dutch constructed an outpost for f u r trading on Castle Island known as Fort Nassau. In 1 6 2 4 a small settlement was made a few miles farther north under the name of Fort Orange. Neither of these settlements lasted any length of time for they were too f a r removed from the main bodies of settlers at the mouth of the Hudson for safety from the Indians. However, traders returned time and again to Fort Orange so that eventually it achieved a permanent body of residents. In 1 6 5 2 the settlement became known as Beverwyck, and in 1664, when the English captured New Netherlands, its name was changed to Albany. When, in 1 6 7 2 , the Dutch recaptured their New World province, they renamed it Willemstadt; when the English returned in 1674, it again became Albany. The English conquest was, however,

IOO

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during the seventeenth and most of the eighteenth centuries, merely political, since the Dutch language and the Dutch customs remained almost unchanged. Peter Kalm, who visited the city in 1749, described its typically Dutch ways and its houses with their gable ends facing toward the street. A n d in 1 7 5 7 , William Smith, in writing his history of New York, said that Dutch was still spoken to such an extent that sheriffs had difficulty in finding an English speaking jury in some parts of the state. 2 John Barclay, an Episcopalian, who was appointed mayor in 1 7 7 8 by Governor Clinton, was the first occupant of that office who was not a member of the Dutch Reformed Church since Albany had received its charter as a city in 1686. The next mayor not of Dutch extraction, Elisha Jenkins, took office by appointment of Governor J a y in 1 8 1 6 . 3 The beginning of the nineteenth century found Albany pursuing the quiet tenor of its ways. Its population, which according to the census of 1790, had been only 3506, had by 1800 risen to 5289. Graham A . Worth, who became a prominent banker in New Y o r k in the middle of the century, but who had settled in Albany in 1800, recalled in later years that at that time the city, old as it was still retained its primitive aspect, and still stood in all its original simplicity, maintaining its quaint and quiescent character, unchanged, unmodified, unimproved, still pertinaciously adhering, in all its walks, to the old track, and the old form. The rude hand of innovation, however, was then just beginning to be felt, and slight as was the touch, it was felt as an injury, or resented as an insult.4 Albany, he claimed, was picturesque, antique, clean, and quiet. Its citizens could be found, on a spring morning, sitting on the 2 Codman Hislop, Albany: 32-34, I4S-I47, 161.

Dutch, English, American, Albany, 1936, pp.

3 Cuyler Reynolds, compiler, Albany Chronicles: A History of the City arranged chronologically, Albany, 1906, pp. 344, 433. 4Gorham A. Worth, Random Recollections of Albany, 3rd ed., Albany, 1&66, pp. 21-22.

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doorsteps of their gabled houses, smoking their pipes in dignified silence. A s Worth indicated, Albany was soon to undergo a vast change. The exodus from New England to the fertile land of western New Y o r k and to the territories governed by the Northwest Ordinance, had begun. Albany became a point of departure for travellers. All roads from central New England led to the city. Those who made their way up the Hudson turned westward here. The route to the new lands lay through the Mohawk Valley, at whose eastern end lay Albany. The city was soon doing a thriving business. Its inns were crowded and its stores were filled with migrants purchasing supplies for their journeys. The manufacture of carriages, wagons, nails, glass, and plows, went on unabated. New industries for the processing of such products as tobacco, mustard, starch, and cocoa, sprang up. By 1786, Albany was already the sixth largest city in the United States. T o take care of the new business, the Albany Bank, second oldest in the state, was chartered in 1792. Old roads to and from Albany in all directions were improved, and new ones were built. The Albany-Schenectady Turnpike was completed in 1805. From 1800 to 1830 new turnpikes connecting the city with Connecticut and Massachusetts were constructed. A s soon as the new farmers of the Mohawk and Genesee Valleys and even remoter regions were established, the factories of Albany kept busy supplying them with building materials, stoves, leather goods, and farm implements. In turn Albany served as a receiving and distributing center for agricultural products. Albany's population rose to 9356 in 1810 and to 12,630 in 1820. The completion of the Erie Canal in 1825 quadrupled Albany's wholesale business. 5 The cornerstone for a new City Hall was laid on August 31, 1827, and on July 29, 1830, ground was broken to construct a railroad from Albany to 5 H i s l o p , op. cit., pp. 208-275, passim.

102

JOEL

Schenectady. 6

MUNSELL

In the decade from 1820 to 1830 the population

of the city almost doubled. It was during the decade of g r o w t h and expansion that Munsell had arrived in Albany. A s a N e w Englander he was not to feel strange in what had until recently been a city dominated by the old Dutch customs. T h e latter had fast begun to disappear. T h e iron roosters atop the gabled roofs and the roofs themselves began to vanish as houses were rebuilt. T h e old burger costume with its cocked hat gave w a y to more modern dress. E v e n the Old Dutch Reformed Church which stood in the middle of State Street, Albany's chief thoroughfare, was demolished in

1806. T h e very character of the

population

changed. W h e r e a s in 1790, there were no more than five N e w England families residing in the city, now many of the merchants and artisans were of N e w England origin. 7

Munsell

joined the ranks of the energetic and enterprising Yankees w h o had so changed the character of the city. W i t h the g r o w t h of the city had come a corresponding increase in the volume of printing. A s early as 1 7 7 1 , Alexander and James Robertson had started the Gazette,

thereby giving

A l b a n y the distinction of being the second city in the state to have a newspaper. T h e Robertsons remained loyal to Great Britain at the outbreak of the Revolutionary W a r and were therefore forced to leave the city. In M a y , 1782, Charles R. Webster came to A l b a n y and joined Solomon Balentine in the publication of the N e w Y o r k Gazetteer gencer. Gazetteer

or Northern

Intelli-

We'bster left for N e w Y o r k the following year. The ceased publication in M a y ,

1784, when Balentine,

too, left the city. A l b a n y was not long without a paper as W e b ster returned and began publication of the Albany Gazette

on

M a y 28, 1784. T h e new Gazette continued to be published until 1845. In opposition to the Gazette, which had become identified with the Federalist Party, the Republicans sponsored in 1788 6 A r t h u r J a m e s Weise, 1884, pp. 466-469.

The

7 W o r t h , op. cit., pp. 31-41.

History

of the City

of Albany,

Albany,

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the publication of the Albany Register under the guidance of Robert Barber, who had been an apprentice on the former paper. The Register became the property of Solomon Southwick in 1808 on Barber's death. Southwick rose to fame locally as state printer, clerk of the Assembly, sheriff of Albany County, postmaster, regent of the University of the State of New York, and President of the Mechanics' and Farmers' Bank. A t the time of the anti-Masonic movement, he also conducted the National Observer, on which Joel Munsell was employed.8 During the period of rapid expansion, two more papers were founded, both associated with people of prominence. On January 26, 1813, Jesse Buel founded the Albany Argus. That same year Thurlow Weed arrived in Albany and was employed on the Gazette, then published by " Webster and Skinners " (Charles Webster had added his brother George and three Skinner nephews to the firm). In 1815 Weed was working for Buel at the Argus office. In 1830, after Weed had already begun his political career, he started the Albany Evening Journal as a W h i g paper.® Albany was to continue to grow in the number of its papers and printing establishments. The possibilities open to an ambitious young printer were many. Employment was steady in the boom period of the early thirties. The years of 1832 to 1834 saw Munsell busily engaged as a journeyman printer. He began to husband his resources carefully and to wait for an opportunity to go into business for himself. On January 7, 1832, Joel noted that his fellow workers accused him of working " slavishly." He admitted that his motive was the pleasure he took in " accumulating pelf." He marvelled at the carelessness for the future shown by other printers and found it hard to see how they could toil all week for a pittance and then fritter it away on drink. 10 8 George R .

Howell,

and

Jonathan

Albany, Albany, 1886, pp. 356-372. 9 Ibid., pp. 356, 357, 372. 10 Munsell, Diary, I V , 9-13.

Jenny,

Bi-Centennial

History

of

104

JOEL

MUNSELL

T h e r e were now constant references in his diary t o w e e k s ot h a r d w o r k . Occasionally considerable periods went b y without entries. O n June 3, he w a s writing, T h e last two weeks of my life have been passed in drudgery. Can I forgive myself that? I suppose the quid pro quo that jangles in my pockets will stifle all objections. There has been time however to pursue this small affair—writing in the D i a r y ; but the mechanic who toils from five in the morning till seven in the evening, unremittingly, though a leisure hour occurs after the duties of the day are over, may reasonably be excused for not feeling a disposition to assume his pen on an occasion not absolutely necessary. If he should prefer his pillow under such circumstances, the imputation of indolence ought not to reach h i m . . . . A f t e r analyzing in some detail the strains and fatigues of the printer, he goes on to explain, Avarice is a prime mover to industry with me. I feel disposed to give it a milder name, but it is so termed by those around me, who do not fail to accuse me of it and I am unwilling to allow them to be the best j udges. I hope that by means of it I may one day be enabled to subsist without submitting to the drudgery entailed upon a journeyman printer. There is some pleasure in knowing that many who taunt me with avarice and closefistedness actually envy me the possession of the little hoardings that have accumulated through the exercise of these heinous vices. They feel the superiority it gives me over them and it is no pleasing consolation to them in their wasteful extravagances. The foolish fellows, to spend their weeks in labor, and squander the proceeds in rum and tobacco and frolicking, and call one another generous, wholesouled jellows! Their intemperance and folly brings them to an untimely grave, and they seldom leave much behind them, except a sort of equivocal posthumous fame, made up of a recollection of their generosity and good humour, mixed with a few shrugs of pity at their want of prudence by those who are following their jootsteps, while we avaricious ones are called upon to contribute towards paying their funeral expenses.

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S o exercised was Joel over the accusation of avarice and, incidentally, so conscious-stricken was he over having failed to write in his diary for over two weeks that he continued to expand on his already over-extended apologia and then proceeded to connect the account of seeing a railroad in operation for the first time with the same theme. He wrote, I have also viewed for the first time, and with mingled awe and pleasure, the operations of the machinery upon the railroad—the handicraft of avaricious man; whom money and the love of fame prompts to deeds of wonderment to the less gifted." Apparently Munsell did not consider himself in the less gifted group. O n June 6, he started on a trip to visit his mother. A f t e r arriving in Greenfield, he had considerable difficulty in locating the house in which she was then living. Again he took the opportunity of visiting Northfield. A f t e r " contriving every possible means to kill time," Joel left on June 13 for East Windsor to see his grandparents, uncles, and aunts. One of Joel's sisters lived but a few miles away. A special trip to Hartford was made to visit Evelina Munsell, then a " modest little lass of 16 " and a great favorite of Joel's. O n attending the old Wapping meeting house Joel noted, missed many of the pretty faces I used to gaze upon. Suppose they have changed their blessed condition by doubling it; and the chief object of showing their pretty faces these [apparently intended to be ' thus'] being attained, they have withdrawn from the house of worship, where they were themselves the presiding deities to too many and are now lost to all spiritual joy in the bliss of matrimony. A f t e r leaving his relatives in East Windsor, Joel walked several miles to meet his brother who took him to Hartford once 11 Ibid.,

I V , pp.

52-58-

IOÓ

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MUNSELL

more. T w o days later, on June 20, Munsell was back at work in Albany after an absence of two weeks. Several days later, Joel noted, " Received a letter from my father that put me out of all good nature. H e wants to borrow money. H e will never be able to take care of himself. He is too old to mind now." Joel sent a banknote four days later. I take every opportunity to give the old man [he was then forty-nine] a lecture on economy, and a pretty severe one at times. If he takes it as I intend he shall it will do him some good, I hope. It is doing him a kindness, though I am afraid he will take it unkindly. He will profit some by it I have no doubt. O n e can well imagine how the poor, happy-go-lucky father must have squirmed at receiving such a letter from his son. 12 Joel's hopes regarding the efficacy of his advice in producing a change in his father were not to be realized and he was to continue to face the burden of supporting his parents. T h e character of Munsell's diary for the years 1832 to 1834 is different from that of the earlier years in several significant aspects. The entries on the whole tend to be much briefer. Joel was now working harder and had less time for extended accounts. He no longer had time to attend the theater; there was no time now to go out to watch fires, to observe in detail the erection of new church buildings, and to notice the digging of artesian wells. The type of experience he considered worthy of notice underwent a change. Although he still collected scrapbooks and newspapers, he did not mention these activities. Recreation received less attention with one important exception; he now paid more attention to feminine charms. Many evenings 12 Ibid., I V , 74. F o o t n o t e s f o r o t h e r q u o t a t i o n s a n d incidents a r e omitted w h e n t h e d a t e of t h e e n t r y is g i v e n in t h e c o n t e x t . T h e i n t i m a t e details of M u n s e l l ' s activities f r o m J a n u a r y t o J u l y , 1832, a r e culled f r o m I V , 14-75. T h i s v o l u m e of t h e D i a r y e n d s a b r u p t l y on J u l y r i , 1832. T h e fifth and last v o l u m e of t h e D i a r y is not p a g e d . I t r e c o r d s briefly t h e events of his life f r o m A u g u s t 29, 1833 t o J u n e 20, 1834. T o w a r d s t h e l a t t e r p a r t of t h i s v o l u m e t h e e n t r i e s a r e m e a g e r and, in o n e case, as m u c h as six weeks a p a r t .

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spent in the company of the ladies were recorded. Reading, attendance at lectures, studying, and w r i t i n g absorbed more of his

time and

received

comparatively

more

attention

than

formerly. Letter writing continued but w a s given less space. In short, the diary of a boy had given w a y to that of an industrious y o u n g man. Munsell's choice of reading matter revealed his greater seriousness of purpose and the improvement of his taste in literature. H e no longer bought copies of plays or biographies of actors. His interest in the natural sciences found expression in reading what he recorded as " scientific tracts " and a popular biography of Isaac N e w t o n by the famous Scottish scientist, D a v i d Brewster. Parley's Magazine and the purchase of an encyclopedia helped increase his personal collection of reference works. H e recorded reading S i r E d w a r d B u l w a r - L y t t o n ' s Eugene Aram, published in 1832, and James K . Paulding's Koningsmarke, the Long Finne, as well as John Locke's Essay on Human Understanding, a pamphlet by F a n n y W r i g h t , and the Letters of Lord Chesterfield. Historical literature was represented by a history of the French Revolution. Most understandable was the reading of a w o r k entitled The Ambitious Student. O n reading a w o r k by Madden on the " infirmities of Genius," he decided that, by the author's standard, " I am a genius, as I have all their peculiarities." T h e effect of the reading of one book and the purchase of another reveal quite clearly the trend of Munsell's antiquarian interests. A f t e r reading a novel, John de Lancaster, he decided to look up the supposed author, Richard Cumberland ( C u m berland was thought to have collaborated with Sir James Bland Burges w h o is now considered to be the author) in his biographical dictionary. H e was impressed by the fact that Cumberland " was born just 100 years ago yesterday," i.e., on February 19, 1732. O d d bits of interesting or curious information always impressed Munsell. M o r e than a year later, Munsell purchased a copy of W i l l i a m Hone's Every-Day Book.

JOEL

108

MUNSELL

H o n e , an E n g l i s h bookseller and w r i t e r on political subjects, had, in an attempt to recoup his fortunes, and w i t h the app r o v a l of R o b e r t S o u t h e y and the help of Charles L a m b , published a collection of curious information on antiquities and other subjects. M u n s e l l w a s so impressed w i t h the w o r k that he t o o b e g a n collecting such information, w h i c h w a s eventually to find its w a y into one of his newspapers and finally to appear in book f o r m , b e a r i n g the same title as the H o n e opus. T h e preparation of scrapbooks had g o n e on steadily.

The

series of small v o l u m e s of clippings of poetry, short stories, and anecdotes, begun at T r o y , w a s continued. A t least four m o r e scrapbooks w e r e filled up d u r i n g the years f r o m 1832 to 1834. 1 3 Joel's antiquarian inclinations are revealed by

some

notations he made near the names of some people mentioned in the clippings. A n account of one D o n a l d M ' D o n a l d ' s death is f o l l o w e d by, " S a w h i m in 1 8 2 7 ; said he w a s 104 years old " ; an article about a phrenologist, one D r . Spurzeim, bears the notation, " H e lectured in B o s t o n in O c t . 1832 " ; and a poem b y D r . Corbet, B i s h o p of N o r w i c h , bears the comment, " D r . C o r b e t died in 1 6 3 5 . "

14

A l s o included in the same v o l u m e is

a chronological list of the principal g o v e r n m e n t officials of the United States from 1789 to 1831. I n addition, three larger books of clippings, w h o s e

pages

measure a p p r o x i m a t e l y 8 % inches by 53^2 inches, survive. One, a n undated v o l u m e entitled, " T h e A m e r i c a n C e n t o , "

prob-

ably belongs to the series started at Greenfield. A n o t h e r , lacki n g a title page, also seems t o be of an earlier period as it contains a clipping of a poem dated July 2, 1829. T h e third bears the f o l l o w i n g i n f o r m a t i o n on the printed title page, Scrap-Book,

Repository

of

Belles-Lettres,

Anno

" The Domini

M D C C C X X X I V , E d i t e d by A r t h u r Singleton, E s q . , P h i l o m . " U n d e r the editor's name, Joel printed a f o u r line j i n g l e : 13 Joel Munsell, The Scrapbook, vols. IV-VII (American Antiquarian Society). Vol. IV is dated Albany, 1832. 14 Ibid., IV, 69, 109,

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With youthful fancy, or maturer taste We cull the meadow and explore the waste, The brightest flowers, the purest gems to save, From the dark bosom of oblivion's wave.15 Joel does not mention the source of this heroic stanza—the copying of verse without giving the author due credit was not at all unusual in his day. Was Arthur Singleton merely a pen name for Joel Munsell ? Henry Cogswell Knight, a New England clergyman who had published a considerable number of sermons, had adopted the nom-de-plume of Arthur Singleton for his writings in lighter vein. Many of his articles appeared in the New England Galaxy. As early as November 14, 1826, the Franklin Post and Christian Freeman had begun to reprint a series of articles written by Singleton for the Galaxy entitled "Sybelline Leaves and Wayward Criticism." 16 As Joel was still employed on the Post at that time, he must have come into contact with the Singleton articles. Apparently Munsell was impressed by the latter's humorous style as he clipped a considerable number of Singleton's articles for the volume of the American Cento mentioned above. However much Munsell admired Singleton's travel accounts and humorous articles, he must have been much more impressed by an article Singleton wrote in the July 2 1 , 1826, issue of the New England Galaxy. Munsell, avid newspaper reader that he was, was hardly likely to miss this issue of the Galaxy which was no doubt received through exchange by the Franklin Post and from which the Post, as has already been mentioned, copied articles. The article, called " The Bibliopolists," discussed authorship and writing in a general vein and then went on to say: 15 Joel Munsell, The American Cento; another volume of clippings without a title; and The Scrapbook, supposedly edited by Singleton (American Antiquarian Society). 16 Franklin Post and Christian Freeman, passim, beginning with issue of November 14, 1826.

110

JOEL

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Dead authors are often defamed by injudicious admirers gathering their posthumous hyps and rinds and yellow leaves; but much unwiser is it for living authors to collect, rather than select their precocities, more seedling mosses oj the Muse's Mount. T h e implication w a s clear that careful selection w a s necessary. In Singleton, the advocate of compilations, Munsell had found a kindred spirit. A n d w h e n , in 1834, he collected another volume of literary miscellany, he apparently

borrowed

K n i g h t ' s pseudonym, with w h i c h he had so long been familiar and whose ideas had found such a ready welcome with him. M o r e significant than the use of Singleton's name is the long,

bombastic

introduction,

preciously

entitled

" Avant-

Propos " that Munsell printed. T o quote, The editor of this work has long beheld, with deep regret for the prosperity of pure science, the increasing torrent of books that is poured before the defenceless community. H e has restrained the ardor of his own immortal genius! impressed with the conviction that it has now become a crime to sell the number of works already before the public. A n d he hopes not to incur the unjust imputation of envy or malice when he avows that he regards each new candidate for literary honors as a wilful bibiliomaniac deserving some untimely end, or at best a probation at the treadmill. T o such a lamentable crisis have we arrived, and so many pretenders are there putting forth their claims, that the demands of modest merit cannot hope to be heard above the clamors of the stupid and presumptuous. A n d many a master spirit therefore is gliding down the torrent of oblivion, unwept, unhonored, unsung; while the memory of less deserving men is embalmed in the unstoried urn of the legendary; and the song of the minstrel. How, then, shall the proud genius of Arthur Singleton, Esq. so far forget itself as to practise the craft necessary to bring the public to a sense of his great desserts, or for a moment entertain the thought of pursuing the ignis fatuus of fame in the same track with the common herd of b o o k m a k e r s ! . . . but

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having tumbled the whole fabric of bookmongery into ruin by this preface, he has erected this volume from the debris, as a monument to preserve some precious emanations of genius from the dark fount of oblivion, and as a sarcophagus for the name of an editor of unprecedented modesty. 17 A t twenty-six years of age, Munsell w a s setting in type words which conveyed the value, albeit humorously, of collecting materials rather than doing original writing. T h e knowledge of the existence of justification for such a course w a s no doubt to make him feel happier when m a k i n g his own collections. It served to ease the conscience of one who was to have little inclination to do any extended original writing. O f the many titles that were to bear the name of Munsell as author, the vast m a j o r i t y were to be collections of facts and documents gathered from many sources. O n A p r i l 15, 1832, Joel wrote proudly in his diary that his library was a respectable one, not only in the number of his books, but also in their selection. F e w personal libraries, he felt, could compare with his. Nevertheless, he decided, " It is but a beginning of what I mean it shall be, a mere foundation." Purchases at book auctions served constantly to augment it. B y September 17 of the following year, Joel felt that his library was sufficiently large to be catalogued. Accordingly, he prepared a catalogue for printing. T h i s w o r k , if ever it was completed, and there is little reason to doubt that Joel finished it, has apparently disappeared. It was to be merely the first of many catalogues. Other forms of collecting also went on at this period. A t one time Munsell mentions briefly a coin collection. In 1833 Munsell renewed his interest in the study of French. Soon he was translating articles from the French press. Not 17 Munsell, Scrapbook, (supposedly edited by Singleton), Introduction. The bombastic style of the preface is not unlike other writing of Munsell at this time but seems to be somewhat more polished. It does not appear in any of the other known published writings of the original Arthur Singleton but may have been written by him as a preface to a work not now identifiable.

112

JOEL

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sufficiently satisfied with his knowledge, he bought a copy of Cobbet's French Grammar and continued to spend time in its study. By August 29, he was able to translate freely from French into English and on December 21, 1833, he translated a French tale for the Albany Evening Journal. And two days later he noted setting up in type an article in English while translating from a French paper as he went along. The movement for popular education, so widespread in the second and third decades of the nineteenth century, which had in New Haven led to the founding of the Young Men's Institute, had its counterpart in Albany. The up and coming young men of the city banded together on December 10, 1833 ' n the Mayor's Courtroom of the City Hall to organize the Young Men's Association for Mutual Improvement. As they stated in the Preamble to their Constitution, We, the Subscribers, Young Men of the City of Albany, being desirous of improving ourselves in the Sciences and useful Arts, have resolved to form an association for the purpose of establishing a Reading-room, a Library, a debating Society, and of adopting such measures as may best further our object of mutual improvement; and for the government of our association, we do adopt the following Constitution. The original Constitution, drawn up as a long scroll, bears the name of Joel Munsell as one of the subscribers.18 Shortly after its founding, The Young Men's Association began actively to sponsor a series of lectures. Munsell records attending a lecture by Daniel D. Barnard, who later became a prominent Whig, on January 7, 1834. On January 10, he heard a Dr. James deliver a lecture on geology, apparently the first of a series, as Joel was present at least on one more geology lecture. During January, February, and March, there were also delivered several lectures on phrenology, at least one of them by Dr. Amos Dean, who had assisted in the founding of the association. 18 Constitution of the Young Men's Association Library, Albany, New Y o r k ) .

(Harmanus

Bleecker

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A Dr. March discoursed on such subjects as anatomy and circulation, physiology and circulation and osteology. In addition, Joel attended several talks on American literature by Simeon de Witt Bloodgood, a figure of prominence in Albany, and lectures on such varying subjects as American history, astronomy, and " T h e Animal Kingdom." T h e Debating Society drew up, on February 17, 1834, as questions for debate such a wide variety of topics, legalistic, moralistic, intellectual, historical, and otherwise as : " Should slander be punished as a felony?," " Is the love of wealth a more powerful incentive to action than the love of fame ?," " Have the Crusades been beneficial in an intellectual or moral point of view?," " I s genius innate?," and " A r e theatrical exhibitions b e n e f i c i a l ? " 1 9 Whether Joel Munsell attended these debates is unknown. Certain it is, however, that he was interested in some of these problems. Conceivably he might have answered the second question in the negative; the last question would certainly have found Munsell upholding the affirmative. Munsell had renewed his membership in the Albany Typographical Society on his return to the city. A s a member in good standing, he attended meetings and was present at the funerals of fellow members. On March 6, 1832, Joel attended the anniversary dinner of the society, a function which was graced by the presence of the Governor, the Lieutenant-Governor, and several members of the State Legislature. He himself had served on the Committee to draw up the toasts for the individuals present. A s for the evening itself, he wrote, "Came home at half-past one, pretty gloriously corned, that is to say for me—temperate youth that I am." The toasts had been composed of printing terms used in a suggestive manner. Such words as bed (of a press) and bastard (size of type), and others, readily lend themselves to such treatment. Joel was annoyed when the toasts were published several days later. Since only the printers knew the typographical meanings of 19 Records of the Young Men's Association (Harmanus Bleecker Library, Albany, New York), vol. I (not paged).

114

JOEL

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the terms used, Joel felt that to the public the toasts would appear obscene and should, therefore, have been suppressed. O n Independence D a y , Munsell again joined his fellow printers, this time in an outing to T r o y . Neither in the Y o u n g Men's Association or in its Debating Society, nor in the A l b a n y Typographical Society did Joel Munsell take a leading part. It was not in Joel's makeup to lead groups of men. H i s personal reticence held him back from prominent roles in public. It was not until the middle years of his life that Munsell would assume any position of importance in an organized activity or s o c i e t y — a n d then it was to be in such a highly selective group as an historical society. A custom surviving from Revolutionary D a y s w a s the requirement that all able-bodied young men serve several tours of duty at drills and parades as members of the local militia. W e a l t h y members of the community normally failed to appear when summoned and were let off with small fines. T o those w h o could ill a f f o r d to pay the fine, the drills appeared as an unnecessary burden. S o unpopular w a s this obligation that abolition of compulsory military service became one of the demands of the laboring groups during the period of Jacksonian democracy. In N e w Y o r k , however, a bill introduced in 1830 to reduce attendance at drill from t w o days a month to one afternoon, had failed of passage. 2 0 Joel Munsell, no less than any other mechanic, w a s annoyed when his turn to serve arrived on September 2, 1833.

He

failed to appear as he preferred to pay the fine rather than " undergo the fatigues and fooleries of the drill." O n October 4, he decided to heed the call and duly turned out for military service but on October

12, he w a s summoned to attend a

court-martial for failing to attend a parade. A s has already been noted, during his earliest years in A l bany and his subsequent years as a wandering journeyman, Joel had paid comparatively little attention to the opposite sex. 2 0 C a r m a n , Social

and Economic

History

of the United

States,

I I , 75.

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It was only during his travels, when he carefully noticed his fellow passengers, especially girls of his own age, and during his visits to East Windsor, that he allowed himself to spend any considerable time in their company. However, busy as he was from 1832 on, he now began to spend more time with them. On New Year's Day he lost a friendly contest to a girl identified only as " Mary," as to who should be the first to greet the other. A s a forfeit, he was required to buy her a present. In February, when his friend Graves was married, Joel quoted a poem in his diary that used printing terminology in suggestive language. Ten days later, he visited Graves in Troy and drank a friendly glass of wine with him in honor of his hymenial partnership with the peerless Miss Granbarger—phaw! What name. But it is lost, together with some appurtenances since she, as inditeth the poet, " in Graves cold bed is laid." During the early part of 1833, he met Jane Bigelow, whom he was to marry the following year. From September on, his visits to Jane are faithfully recorded. On September 5, he notes, " Arose at six and did some work before breakfast. In the evening called upon Jane and stayed until 1 1 , a very extravagant hour." The next week, on September 1 1 , he escorted Jane to the " Museum " to hear four Tyrolese minstrels. He stopped at Jane's house after the performance " a n d remained tete a tete till nearly 12. Keep very bad hours of late." Courting Jane did not prevent other friendships at this time for on September 15 he noted In the evening called upon Miss Simmons and spoke some pleasantries upon her late excursion into the country with a certain young man, of whom rumor speaks as the successful suitor for her mortal being. On Sunday, September 22 he heard " a wonderfully wise sermon " and then remained with Jane until eleven. The next day he took Jane on a railroad trip to Schenectady where they

Il6

JOEL

MUNSELL

visited the Union College campus. A n d two days later, though he rose at half past five and worked until eight " with industry unusual," he visited J a n e and stayed with her almost until midnight. Further visits occur regularly. B y October, his engagement to marry J a n e was apparently known to his friends as he notes that on the tenth, In the evening called upon Miss Simmons and had a tete a tete principally upon love and matrimony—for wherever I go now I am sure to be bored upon that topic. Was commended for the choice I had made in Jane Bigelow. Joel's boredom on the topic of love is not to be taken too seriously, although he continued to write of his courtship in cavalier fashion. J a n e was not the only one interested in marrying Joel Munsell. On December 1 0 , he received a note from a Miss McGlashan requesting the return of a ring she had given him. Joel was reminded by this letter of his breach of courtesy, some two or three weeks earlier, in neglecting to honor an invitation to call on her. Joel now called on the McGlashans but found no one at home. Thereupon he sent a note offering to return the ring. In reply he learned that the young lady had received it from her father on his deathbed. Joel expressed surprise that she should have given him so valuable an object. Apparently he had sent her a message which had been misinterpreted by the messenger and had thereby led to the friction between him and " the little girl " as he calls her. The ring was duly returned on New Y e a r ' s Day. T h e course of love did not always run smoothly. During J a n u a r y of 1 8 3 4 , when Joel was attending lectures at the Y o u n g Men's Association, J a n e frequently accompanied him. T o w a r d the end of the month, however, he recorded for the first time having a quarrel with his fiancee. It could not have been of long duration for on February 4, he was attending a

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party at 83 Lydius Street, where Jane lived. " Lots of pretty g i r l s . . . Had insatiate times," noted Joel gleefully. But on February 22, Jane gave her betrothed a scolding and t w o days later he received another lecture. " Came away ill natured," he remarked. By March 2, however, he again " went to church with Jane and saw oceans of pretty women." Y e t on March 9, the young lady was again peeved at something Joel had written to her in which he had no intention of offending. T h i s time Joel was able to pacify her before leaving. A t long last, Joel records that on March 18 he, " Broached the subject of fixing the wedding day for the third time within a week. Some prospect of the happy day arriving in M a y . " Joel was not, however, to be satisfied with an indefinite answer and four days later he again brought up the matter, as he puts it, " Broached the subject of the wedding—a very shy topic that does not seem to go on glib and easy. What a change a few short months may produce." Seemingly, Joel received some assurance this time. While the discussion of the wedding date was going on, Joel was having a miniature of himself painted. A t least three sittings were required. Joel purchased a locket in anticipation of its completion. A t the final sitting, Jane pronounced it an exact likeness. Joel felt that it was not a good representation of himself; others thought it bore no resemblance to him. The next day Joel presented it to his fiancee. Joel's miniature, painted shortly before his

twenty-sixth

birthday, makes him look younger than his years. His small head and thin face seem lost between a luxurious crop of hair parted on the right side and coming down in its fullness below the level of his eyes and covering the tops of his large ears and the wide lapels of a formal coat—his collar and bowtie come up and completely hide his short neck. Joel's small blue eyes peer out from under heavy eyebrows and above his high cheekbones. A generous nose and thin cheeks add length to his face. T h e miniaturist pictures a small mouth above a wide chin. Photographs of Munsell in later years show a fairly large mouth

Il8

JOEL

MUNSELL

turning d o w n at the corners. A s his hair g r e w thinner, M u n sell's large forehead became m o r e prominent. 2 1 T h e f o l l o w i n g months w e r e t o be a m o n g the busiest of M u n sell's life. In A p r i l an opportunity had been o f f e r e d to him to enter into a partnership to take over control of a newspaper. Concerning this, more will be told later. T h a t month he found time to make only t w o entries in his diary. T h e new editorial duties which he assumed and the preparation for his wedding kept him so occupied that for the next s i x weeks his diary is blank. O n June 7, he recorded that he had barely taken time to breathe. T h e d a y of the w e d d i n g had been set f o r T u e s d a y , June 17. T h e preceding S a t u r d a y he recorded that he had had a busy week of preparation w i t h a multitude of a f f a i r s to which to attend. L e t t e r s had been sent to his family and to his friend, R o g e r N e w t o n . O n S u n d a y he " put on a new ring, intended for an event of a most eventful character." A l l day M o n d a y w a s spent in last minute preparations. Tue. June 17, 1 8 3 4 ! ! ! An era in the life 0} this child! Joel Munsell, printer, linked heart and hand with Jane C. Bigelow for life. Here were four indiscreet mortals [Anthony H. Austin and Rhoda A . Barker, relatives of the Munsells were married at the same time] launched into the Gulf of Matrimony without a feeling of compunction by a remorseful Baptist priest [the Rev. Mr. W e l c h ] 2 2 in consideration of the sum of ten dollars. It was a merry day. There were assembled some thirty or forty human souls, men, women, and children, to witness the heartrending spectacle. A t half past 3 in the afternoon, we walked up to the altar, or where the altar should have been and the sentence of the law was pronounced upon us in its utmost rigor. W e heard it without flinching so perfectly resigned were we to our fate. T h e interior of the house was soon a scene of sunshine and joy, but the heavens without were hung in black, and the rain poured in torrents. A t 5 we embarked for N e w Y o r k . W e had a tolerable boisterous voyage and myself not a wink of sleep that blessed night. 21 Miniature now in the possession of Mrs. M a r y Culver Pollock, 447 Manning Boulevard, Albany, N e w Y o r k , a granddaughter of Joel Munsell. 2 2 A l b a n y Argus

(semi-weekly), June 20, 1834.

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Having arrived in New Y o r k , the young couple stopped first at the Franklin House and started out immediately thereafter to explore the city. A trip was made to Castle Garden, then a leading amusement center of the city, 23 to witness the ascension of a balloon. Included in the day's activity was a visit to Jane's sister. They spent the next day in further exploration of the city and in a visit to a cousin of Jane's. In the evening, they attended a concert of opera singers at Niblo's Garden. On Friday, the Munsells took a boat for New Haven and from there, the stage for Hartford. The next morning saw them arriving in East Windsor to visit Joel's family. Whether or not they also visited his mother, as it is likely they did, is uncertain, as is also the date of their return to Albany for at this point Munsell's diary stops. It is most probable that Joel did not remain away more than a week or ten days at most— it was not like him to interrupt his work in a new firm more than was reasonable. The fragmentary nature of Joel's diaries from his return to Albany some time before January i , 1832, to the final entry on June 20, 1834, do not give a complete record of his employment. That it was steady and remunerative has already been mentioned. Even the short trips made to visit his family found Joel eager to return to his work. Once, while visiting East Windsor in the late spring of 1 8 3 2 , he decided to return to Albany after an absence of six days, despite the rumor of an outbreak of the much dreaded cholera. The next year, 1 8 3 3 , found Munsell again working for various newspaper printers. In the towns and smaller cities of the United States, most of the printing offices from the colonial days to the middle of the nineteenth century, had, as one of their mainstays, the publication of a newspaper, whether it be a weekly, semi-weekly, or in a fewer cases, a daily. For the smaller printing establishments especially, the publication of a 23 Erected as a fort called West Battery in 1807, it was known as Fort Clinton after the W a r of 1812.

120

JOEL

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w e e k l y assured a certain a m o u n t of regular w o r k f o r the typesetters and pressmen. O f t e n the same w o r k m e n set type in the early part of the w e e k and did the p r e s s w o r k the day before publication. O t h e r w o r k , such as j o b printing, the printing of almanacs, pamphlets, chap books, and full-sized volumes, would normally be done d u r i n g time not needed f o r w o r k on the newspaper. 2 4 I n Munsell's time, the a v e r a g e printer w a s already sufficiently a specialist to devote all his e f f o r t s t o the actual printing of the newspaper. C o r r e s p o n d i n g l y , there were editors w h o devoted themselves solely t o the preparation of copy.

O f t e n , h o w e v e r , the editor had

received his

original

t r a i n i n g in the printshop. T h e distinction between the printing and editorial s t a f f s of a newspaper w a s therefore still not so sharply d r a w n as to be mutually exclusive. Munsell's training w a s such that he m i g h t h a v e chosen either branch of newspaper w o r k . H e w a s for the next f e w years to devote himself t o preparing copy as well as b e i n g a practicing printer. In fact, it w o u l d have been m o r e surprising had Munsell, eager and inquisitive, not tried his hand at editorial w o r k . A l r e a d y he h a d seen his articles in print several t i m e s — i n The

Corres-

pondent,

Colum-

bian

the A l b a n y Microscope,

Register.

Evening

Journal

His

work

now,

and the N e w H a v e n

at the office of the A l b a n y

and the A l b a n y Argus,

S k i n n e r s , publishers of the A l b a n y Gazette,

and at W e b s t e r and further whetted his

appetite to contribute copy. M u n s e l l had retained the g o o d will of the A l b a n y scope,

Micro-

in w h i c h his first article h a d appeared on N o v e m b e r 3,

1 8 2 7 , in denunciation of the minister w h o had claimed to have r e f o r m e d the y o u t h of A l b a n y . O n F e b r u a r y 4, 1832, according to Munsell, an article of mine, communicated to the Microscope made its appearance. It is a slim affair but the subject of it is so shabby a fellow that it is no sin to castigate him. H e has crept up from one office to another by bowing and cringing to the 24 L a w r e n c e C. W r o t h , Book Production and Distribution from the Beginning to the War Between the States. I n H e l l m u t L e h m a n n - H a u p t , The Book in America, N e w Y o r k , 1933, pp. 25-28, 101, 102.

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multitude without possessing a thimbleful of good s e n s e . . . . He should know better than to meddle with literature, for he is but a child there. By chiming in with the popular party he has gained a seat in the house of assembly, and has introduced a resolution to prohibit the sale of books by auction, probably to please a bookseller who patronizes him—for the hon. member is a bookbinder. 25 Joel Munsell, ardent patron of book auctions, would naturally be aroused to indignation at an attempt to bar them. T h e object of his attack, William Seymour, a member of the State Assembly, was treated to a dose of the same heavy-handed satire whose meaning was often obscured by long sesquipedalian phrases, as was the Reverend William Bacon some four years previously.2® The heat of Munsell's indignation against a public figure did not affect his relation with the Microscope. A t any rate, in the fall of 1833, Munsell was hired to work in the Microscope printshop. U p to the time that Munsell became a member of the Microscope staff, almost all of his writings had been of a polemical nature—he was moved to write either to approve or to disapprove the ideas of others, or to take his own stand on controversial subjects. A s a member of the Microscope staff, he crossed the bridge between printshop and editorial office. O n Sunday, October 13, 1833, he notes he was busy all day writing a review of recent publications and some other writing. Four days later, when at work in setting up the next issue of the Microscope, he ran out of copy. Thereupon Joel promptly wrote out a half column of editorial. 27 On November 7, Munsell again wrote two communications for the Microscope,28 In referring to them, Joel notes in his diary, " see no 40 & 41 mss." 25 Munsell, Diary, I V , 19, 20. 26 Albany Microscope, anonymously.

February

4,

1832.

Munsell's

article

appeared

27 Neither of these articles can be identified. 28 Munsell, Diary, V . T h e references to these articles are too meager to identify them.

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Munsell, apparently had kept copies of his original writings of which the latest brought the number up to forty-one. 2 * Only two months later, Joel was setting in type for the Evening Journal, then his principal employer, the translation he was making directly from a French paper.30 Munsell had arrived at the stage where he could serve his newspaper employers in every department of the paper. He was now ready to assume greater responsibilities. In the midst of his printing and writing, his studying and his planning for the future, Joel had a dream during the night of October 22 and 23, 1833. He found himself back in a little schoolhouse in Northfield surrounded by all his classmates. He goes on to relate, I was then a very ragged urchin with every inferiority of figure and fortune.... It is by no means gratifying to look upon that period or the present and compare our different conditions in life. They are all wealthy. And came into possession of it without any effort of their own, and had all the benefits it can confer during their minority. While the little fortune I have acquired has been accumulated as the award of servitude and privations—slowly does such gain accumulate. Yet I would not exchange situations with any of them, though the only laurels I have yet acquired is to be called Ben Franklin at the dining table.31 Joel, who but five years before, was prone to lament his fortunes, in soul-stirring outpourings of self-pity whenever he had an altercation with his employer, Denio, had matured considerably. He is not free even now from occasionally pitying 29 Munsell's copies of his writings are no longer in existence. Apparently Munsell had written many m o r e articles than he had recorded in his diary and than have been discovered by the present writer. It is unlikely that they will be found since the files of Albany papers for this period a r e incomplete and, in addition, the articles were all unsigned. 30 Munsell, Diary, V, December 21-23, 1833. 31 Ibid., October 23, 1833.

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himself on his fate. Surely not all of his former classmates could have become wealthy through inheritance as he claimed. A l t h o u g h his fellow-boarders m a y have teased him with the nickname of " Ben F r a n k l i n , " certainly such a taunt w a s one of which he could be proud. Actually, his prospects were much brighter then than during his years of j o b hunting and frequent changes of employer and place of employment. A s early as M a y 3, 1832, Munsell w a s offered the opportunity of b u y i n g a j o b printing plant. H e declined the offer, h a v i n g decided to bide his time until a more desirable opportunity should arise. E a r l y in 1834, the publishers of the A l b a n y Microscope,

G e o r g e Galpin and H e n r y D . Stone, ran into fi-

nancial difficulties. Munsell, w h o w a s both printer and occasional editorial assistant on the paper, g a v e Galpin a loan of three hundred dollars on M a r c h 29. Joel's account in an A l bany savings bank had stood him in good stead. F i v e days later, the owners proposed to sell the Microscope

and its print-

ing office to Munsell. Regardless of Galpin's difficulties, the Microscope

had been a profitable venture. Munsell decided to

replace Galpin and to run the Microscope

with Stone as his

partner. H e plunged immediately into the negotiations preparatory to taking over his share of the paper. A f t e r a silence of more than three weeks, he w a s able to write in his diary on A p r i l 26, Have been very busy preparing to enter in partnership in the concern of the Albany Microscope. But I must say I do not take the interest I should in a more respectable business establishment. However, I have waited long and patiently for better chances and none have offered. It is profitable nevertheless, which is the only consolation. A b o u t to approach t w o of the most important events of his life, marriage and proprietorship, Joel was still deprecating his lot! O n June 7 it was that he wrote,

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A month and a half of my important life lost to posterity. A n d such a busy and important part of it, too! M a y I entered on my editorial duties and up to this date I have hardly taken time to b r e a t h e . . . . T h e fact is that matters are coming to a crisis rapidly and business in two important lines have driven me about during this time. I n truth Joel's complaint of lack of time is most understandable, f o r it w a s only ten days before his w e d d i n g . Joel Munsell had m a d e the arrangements t o enter into partnership w i t h S t o n e on M a y i , 1834. T h e Microscope

came out

as usual on M a y 3 — t h i s issue had in all probability been ready f o r press as Munsell entered the firm. Immediately plans w e r e set up t o change the paper both in its t y p o g r a p h y and in its editorial policy t o c o n f o r m w i t h the ideas of the new firm. T h e n e w arrangements took time so that the paper failed to appear on M a y

10. F r o m the number of changes introduced,

and

f r o m Munsell's hints in his diary about a s s u m i n g new " editorial " duties, it appears likely that, whereas Galpin f o r m e r l y acted as editor, M u n s e l l w a s n o w t o be in large measure responsible for the contents of the paper, even t h o u g h his partner w a s to be the same m a n w h o had previously been associated w i t h Galpin in the publication of the paper. Y e t the first issue under the new m a n a g e m e n t on M a y 1 7 merely announced the dissolution of the Galpin and S t o n e partnership and requested that all communications in the f u t u r e be addressed to H e n r y D . Stone. T h e publication office and printing shop w e r e to rem a i n at 2 6 B e a v e r Street. It w a s not until the issue of July 19 that the firm's name w a s g i v e n as S t o n e and Munsell. 3 2 Immediate improvement w a s noted in the appearance of the paper. T h e amount of subject matter w a s increased. A n editorial by Munsell in the first issue of the new firm on M a y 1834, called to the attention of its readers that the although smaller in size than the Argus

and Evening

17,

Microscope, Journal,

w a s only such, not t h r o u g h lack of material, but t h r o u g h a de32 Albany Microscope, June 1, 1833 to May 17, 1834.

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sire not to tax its facilities, and the feeling that it would be satisfactory if careful selection of materials were made. A s the editor himself put it, W e present the Microscope this week, in an entire new dress, after having delayed its publication only one week, in order to accomplish it. In the present rage of newspaper enlargement, and extravagant expenditure, we have been frequently urged to lengthen our columns and widen our pages—even one of our particular friends and good subscribers, suggested to us the propriety of measuring dimensions with the Journal and Argus. This we might easily consent to, provided nothing else intervened except matter to fill such ponderous columns—for we never saw the time when we were not in possession of many " baskets full " of manuscripts. But we have concluded to retain our former size, and not attempt to swell and struggle for an extension beyond our convenience or capacity; confidently believing that if our present sized columns are filled with judicious selections—appropriate and well directed communications—preserving always an editorial scrutiny and watchfulness, with an occasional sentence of our own, as a sprinkling of spice to give the whole a relish and a welcome reception, it will do. In addition to our own intended exertions, we have the pleasure to inform our patrons, that several excellent and efficient writers will contribute their assistance. This will render our paper more interesting than usual, as most of them are well known to wield their pen with power, truth and effect. It is only necessary for many of our young friends to devote an occasional leisure hour to the employment of their intellect, if they wish to improve themselves in that pleasing and useful exercise. Even though the owners decided not to increase the size of their paper, among the typographical changes that were introduced were some that enabled them to increase the amount of reading matter. Space was saved by setting the type more

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closely and the wide, ungainly spaces between the lines in earlier issues of the Microscope were eliminated. Improved presswork became apparent in the uniform blackness of the printed pages. The title of the paper, which had previously been set in tooled and shaded letters, was now cast in a dignified, pleasing Text (Old English) type. As the owners announced in the May 24 issue, the printing office had been equipped with new fonts of type. A new press, capable of printing the sheets equal in size to those of any then in Albany had been bought from Hoe and Company of New York. So eager was Munsell to concentrate his efforts in turning out a paper of typographical distinction that he inserted in the editorial columns a request that visitors refrain from calling at the printshop on the days the paper went to press: We are under the necessity of hinting to certain of our friends, who give themselves much trouble to call at our office on Thursdays and Fridays [the paper came out on Saturday], that it is the very time when we have least leisure to attend to them, and when we least wish to have our galleys and proof sheets examined. It is hoped gentlemen, who take so much interest in our prosperity, will do us the honor to call on us on Saturdays. Did Munsell then know that he was experiencing the same difficulties as did Aldus Manutius, the great Italian printer, whose work he was to admire so much in later years ? Aldus had complained as far back in 1 5 1 4 that the throng of visitors to his shop had so interfered with his work that he was forced to place a sign over his shop requesting, "Whoever thou art, thou are earnestly requested by Aldus to state thy business briefly and take thy departure promptly... for this is a place of work for all who may enter." 33 33 Aldus Manutius, in 1514 in the preface of his edition of Cicero's Orations, quoted in Antoine August Renouard, Annates de L'Imprimerie des Aide, Paris, 1825, III, 67, 68.

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Joel Munsell's work as editor is fully as obvious as his interest in the paper's typography. 3 4 In fact, an appreciable portion of the issues from M a y 1 7 on were written by Munsell himself. Beginning with his first issue, he started a serial known as " Time's Telescope " in which he recorded events in history that had happened years back within the same week. T h e newspaper columns of the twentieth century with such titles as " F i f t y Y e a r s A g o T o d a y " or " T e n Y e a r s A g o T o day " are not original with this century. In the first installment, Munsell, cloaking himself in anonymity, prefixed his contribution with the statement, Mr. Editor—Under this title [Time's Telescope] I purpose sending you a paper weekly, if acceptable. I shall endeavor to make them more interesting hereafter, the present one being rather hastily collated, and necessarily long, in order to bring it up to the date of your publication. H e then went on to describe the month of M a y in prose and in a jingle of verse followed by the etymology and historical position of M a y in Roman times. A few typical examples will suffice to show the kind of material that followed. F o r M a y 1 , 34 It is possible to identify Munsell's own contributions to the Microscope through the following set of circumstances. The American Antiquarian Society has a bound volume of the Microscope beginning with the issue of May 17, 1834, and ending with that of February 27, 1636 (the end of Vol. II of the Microscope) which was purchased by the Society on August 1, 1918 from the Albany booksellers, Pierce and Scopes. This volume is undoubtedly Munsell's personal copy. Pierce and Scopes disposed of much of Munsell's personal library which came to them from various members of the family. The book is bound exactly like some of volumes of newspapers which Munsell presented to the Albany Institute which are now in the New York State Library. In addition, the June 7, 1834 issue has some pencilled notations in Munsell's own handwriting. The early part of this volume has a considerable number of articles marked by parentheses at the beginning and end. As all the " Time's Telescope" and " Melanges" installments, which will be discussed further on in the chapter, are so marked and, as the other articles marked in the same way deal with subjects that were of special interest to Munsell, and as they are all in Munsell's style, it is most reasonable to conclude that all articles enclosed by these parentheses were written by Munsell himself.

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he mentioned a riot of L o n d o n apprentices in 1 5 1 7 , the birth of Joseph A d d i s o n on 1672, the U n i o n of Scotland and E n g land in 1705, and the abolition of slave trade in the British W e s t Indies by Parliament in 1807. Battles, vital statistics, and curious events abounded. In later issues, fewer events were noticed but these were given in greater detail. A s the first issue included the events of t w o weeks, the serial was in the

fifty-first

finished

installment in the issue of M a y 2, 1835. A t

the end of the last issue, Joel, in his same self-conscious way that the introduction to the " Singleton " Scrapbook is written, took leave of the column with, The compiler of Time's Telescope, having gone the round of the calendar, finds it necessary to break off and lay up his pen, to await the meed of fame that is yet to be awarded him. He is not aware that anyone has had the patience to follow him in the tedious circuit he has taken, or that the present generation is capable of appreciating the result of his research and industry—and is resolved therefore to leave his labors a legacy to posterity, and live in anticipation of a certain posthumous renown. In order to guard the public from giving him credit for the invention of all the facts and incidents he has recorded, he would say, that for the British portion of the events noticed, he is mainly indebted to a work, very valuable in its own country, entitled the Every-Day B o o k — the remainer has been gathered from all sources, by a perseverance as untiring as it may have been frivolous! He has material for a more extensive series; but has not the hardihood to inflict it upon the world. Hone's Every-Day

Book,

purchased by Joel a few years back,

had been most useful, as he had acknowledged in preparing the articles. T h e lament about lack of appreciation was not altogether h u m o r o u s — M u n s e l l was to complain time and again that his own generation did not appreciate the service he rendered by writing, editing, and publishing works on typographical and A m e r i c a n history. T h e " T i m e ' s T e l e s c o p e " articles were duly clipped from the Microscope

and made into a scrap-

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book with a view to future publication in pamphlet form or, when expanded, in book size. 35 Munsell's other scrapbooks proved a mine of information for the Microscope. Like the newspapers of the day, it was replete with poetry, anecdotes, and articles clipped from other papers. Some of Munsell's scrapbooks show articles obviously marked for copying. 39 Munsell occasionally crossed out the name of the paper from which the clipping was originally taken. Sometimes slight additions or changes were made. In one anecdote, a resident of Fairfield, Connecticut, who had visited England was plied with so many questions regarding his trip that he finally invented a tale about a visit to the King, using the words, " I told the King if he ever came my way to be sure and give me a call." Joel, after marking the clipping with an " X " for copying, and being aware of the value of vivid language, added after " c a l l " the words, " and I would give him as much bread and applesauce as he could eat." 37 A poem entitled, " T h e Premature Hat," in the May 17, 1834 issue of the Microscope, with the subtitle " new writ over " was copied from a poem in Munsell's " Singleton " scrapbook.38 The signature in the scrapbook copy of the poem, " T. H. B.," was omitted from the Microscope version. The " new writ over " doubtlessly referred to such changes in the poem, originally written with a British locale, as the substitution of " I met a woman in Market Street," for " I met a man in Regent 35 Joel Munsell, "Time's Telescope" (American Antiquarian Society). The title page bears the information " Time's Telescope By J. Munsell Albany: 1835." The disclosure in the last installment that the material was gathered in part from Hone's Every-Day Book which Munsell owned and the fact that he used the same material again in his own Every-Day Book years later would point to Munsell as the author of these installments even if his name did not appear on the title page of the Scrapbook. 36 Scrapbook (American Antiquarian Society), no title, pages 5-y 2 inches, 182 pp.

by

37 Ibid., p. 182. 38 Munsell, Scrapbook, supposedly edited by Arthur Singleton (American Antiquarian Society), p. 114.

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Street," and " He passed the Young Men's Reading Room " for " He passed the Trav'llers smoky club." A misprint in the first line of the original poem and a misspelling in the last line were corrected in the Microscope. Other examples of so-called poetry which Munsell culled from his scrapbooks are " The Washing Day," which was printed in the issue of July 12, 1834, and "Sympathy," which appeared on January 10, 1835. 8 9 The Microscope also bore testimony to Joel's interest in French culture. A three and one half column biography of Denis Diderot, the famous French encyclopedist, appeared in the June 7, 1834 issue signed with the pseudonym " Bayle." It was noted under the title that the article was especially written " for the Albany Microscope." In the very same issue, a new series, " Melanges," consisting of translations from French papers, was begun, with the first article, " Amateurs of Monsters," a tale a column and a half long, " Translated from the French for the Albany Microscope " by none other of course than Joel Munsell. " Melanges No. 2 " , entitled " The Last of Napoleon," appeared the following week. After a lapse of almost two months, another "Melanges No. 2 " appeared on August 9 (Munsell had apparently forgotten that No. 2 had come out on June 1 4 ) , this time a translation of " F a b l e of the Charlatan." Not a small part of Munsell's contribution to the Microscope was the actual writing of many of the articles. In addition to addresses to his readers, which appeared in the editorial columns, Munsell frequently wrote articles on subjects that were of interest to him or with which he had some familiarity. On June 7 appeared a favorable review of " Lectures on Phrenology—Delivered before the Young Men's Association for Mutual Improvement," a 252 page volume by Dr. Amos Dean. Munsell, who had attended the lectures, felt himself qualified to pass on them. He followed up his notice of the book by an article praising the Young Men's Association and deploring 39 ¡bid., pp. 188, 130 respectively.

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its seeming decline. News items concerning other newspapers and magazines, a subject in which he had long been interested, were, as a matter of course, written by Munsell. On May 17, he noted the beginning of a new monthly magazine, " The Chameleon." A s might be expected, he takes the occasion to chide the editor on his choice of a name. But it's a bad name, Mr. John W . Moore of Concord, New Hampshire; you'd better sink your title. Its as much as to say that you are ready to turn your coat with every wind. Once in six months is as often as will answer in these times. On September 13, under a column entitled, "Literary Notices," Munsell notes the beginning of The American Magazine of Entertaining Knowledge. Munsell felt that this magazine, similar in aim to the British Penny Magazine (to which he was a subscriber) was deserving of support as the latter was inadequate because it was primarily adapted to British readers. Several other new papers received notice and comment. In the day when newspapers were so much the personal organs of their editors, Joel took occasion to air his views on divers subjects. Munsell, whose habits were most careful and regular, had applied for fire insurance for his newly acquired office.40 T w o Albany companies refused to issue a policy on the ground that his plant was not sufficiently protected against fire. Eventually, Munsell obtained insurance through a New York company. This incident moved Joel to write, in the May 31, 1834 issue, a lengthy article castigating the local firms for refusing to fulfill their function of risk taking and satirically chiding an alderman who had brought about the removal of some clay hills—Munsell claimed that he had taken away means whereby people could burrow caves and catacombs in which they could live and get insurance—and commending the New York company to his readers. Again, in the same issue, Munsell printed Robert Burns' Holy Willie, a satire on the Calvinist 40 Munsell, Diary, V, September 21, 1833.

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church. Munsell added a lengthy comment explaining that he was reprinting the poem because recent editions of the Ayrshire bard's poetry had omitted the Holy Willie in order to make Burns seem more respectable. Munsell made a strong plea for special tolerance toward poetic genius at the same time that he attacked the narrow-minded " Pharisees." Munsell's interest in the theater and public performances are expressed in his description of an exhibit entitled the " Conflagration of Moscow " based on the Napoleonic W a r s ; 4 1 a report of the exhibition of a painting by Cole, " The Angel " ;42 an article on the " Theatre " by an actor who had incurred the enmity of Albanians; 4 3 and other notices of theatrical performances and concerts. An article entitled " Protestant Outrage," protesting against the burning of a Catholic nunnery in Charlestown, Massachusetts 44 and one entitled, " Essays on ye Progresse of Infidelities," 45 which was, " Humbly dedicated to the self-righteous of all denominations," revealed that Munsell did not fear to reveal his unorthodox religious views in his paper. A not inconsiderable portion of the reading matter in a small city newspaper of the 1830's came from the readers themselves. On May 3 1 , 1834, Munsell appealed, Where are the Addisons, the Steeles, the Goldsmiths and the Johnsons of this classic age, that they are not levying upon their store of learning and wit more freely for the columns of our hebdomadary feuille? Not that contributions were not being received, claimed Munsell, " Tis true our files are loaded with communications, but we wish our delinquent customers were obliged to read them as 41 Albany Microscope,

August 2, 9, 1834.

42 Ibid., July 12, 1834. 43 Ibid., June 15, 1834. 4AIbid.,

August 16, 1834.

45 Ibid., August 23, 1834.

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a punishment for their manifold sins of omission and commision." He went on to say that much of the material that was received and not printed was of such quality that it was to the authors' advantage not to have them printed. Munsell's call did not fall on deaf ears for on July 19, he was thanking his readers for sending in so much material. That readers were not shy in expressing their desires appears from the issue of June 7 when Munsell wrote, " Some of our friends have advised us to insert articles of ' sporting intelligence,' a species of information, they say, which cannot fail to interest the majority of our readers." The Microscope, a financially successful paper, continued to prosper under the firm of Stone and Munsell. On June 7, Munsell wrote in the editorial colums that the current issue of eight pages instead of the usual four, was in the nature of a reward to readers because of the increase in subscriptions. He announced that in the future there would again be occasional eight page issues—but these extra pages would be sent only to those who were prompt in paying for their subscriptions. Another such double sized issue came out on January 3, 1835, again with the same promise. The Microscope, as were the other papers of its day, was sold to a list of regular subscribers. Those who were delinquent in payment were a constant source of annoyance to the publishers. Munsell threatened to publish a blacklist. On June 7, 1834, he published a partial list of some thirteen subscribers, six of whom were identified by initials only, who were in arrears for various sums ranging from one to six dollars. The listing of names, and the sarcasm with which the list was introduced, Here are some that have been neglected too long already. They will please excuse us for overlooking them so long— it shan't occurr [sic] again, would hardly be likely to incur public favor. On March 7, 1835, when the Microscope began its seventh volume, it changed the appearance of its masthead. The words

JOEL

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" A l b a n y " and " M i c r o s c o p e " appeared in t w o lines w i t h a cut of the city separating them. T h e simpler T e x t letters of the title g a v e w a y to an ornate letter full of curlicues. A clue to the essential character of the paper is found in the w o r d s , " Devoted to Popular T a l e s , L e g e n d s and A d v e n t u r e s , Ancedotes, P o e t r y , Satire, S p o r t i n g , and the D r a m a , " which

appeared

under its name. A p p a r e n t l y the news of the day w a s of minor importance. T h e Microscope,

as did many a small city weekly,

provided its patrons w i t h reading matter not furnished

by

newspapers, magazines and books. S o general w a s the scope of the Microscope

that it could appeal to residents of different

regions as well as to local Albanians. O f Munsell's list of thirteen deliquent subscribers, only one w a s an A l b a n i a n ;

ten

lived in various parts of the state, north, south and west of A l b a n y ; one w a s a resident of N o r t h Bloomfield, O h i o , and one of L i m e R o c k , Connecticut. A s time went on, Munsell's contributions to the pages of the Microscope

became fewer. M o r e of his time w a s now avail-

able for the printshop. In the second issue of the

Microscope

after Munsell joined the firm, on M a y 24, 1834, the owners of the paper inserted an advertisement in their o w n columns announcing Book, Job & Fancy Printing, neatly and correctly executed at the Albany Microscope office such as Cards, Blanks, Receipts, Checks, Ball Tickets, Hand Bills, Circulars, Show Bills, Horse Bills. A substantial part of the receipts of the firm must have come f r o m such general printing. Unfortunately, diligent inquiry has not yet discovered any s u r v i v i n g examples of the ephemera printed by the firm. T h e r e is little reason to believe that it was markedly different f r o m similar productions of other

firms—

except that even in every day commercial w o r k Munsell was usually putting forth his efforts to do as g o o d a j o b as he was capable of under competitive conditions.

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So little is now known about the production of this firm that even Munsell himself when he prepared his list of imprints in 1872 had copies of only three productions of the firm besides a file of the Microscope, and the recollection of having printed a fourth. In 1834, the firm printed a 170-page book in i2mo for Paul Brown, entitled, The Radical and Advocate of Equality, a treatise advocating the division of property. Brown had previously been associated with Robert Owen at New Harmony. Of the 500 copies printed, few were sold; the majority were used for wrapping paper. As was likely in such cases, Brown, whom Munsell described as a failure in business, had probably failed to pay in full for the printing. The next year Munsell records only the printing of a pamphlet of the specimen types of the Nathan Lyman foundry of Buffalo, New York doubtless a supplier of Munsell and Stone. No copies are known to exist today. Twenty years later Munsell printed one thousand copies of Julius Ames* Spirit of Humanity, and Animal's Friend. He recalled still later on that he was under the impression that a previous edition, begun by Duncan McKercher, was finished by his firm in 1835. 49 In 1836, Stone and Munsell printed a twelve-page pamphlet of the " Incorporation and By-Laws of the Mutual Insurance Company of Albany," and Josiah Priest's " The Robber," a 32-page account of a robbery that occurred in 1808.'" The copy of Munsell's list of imprints that once belonged to Adolph Growell, the bibliographer of nineteenth century printing, records another work for 1836, " A Short Sketch of the Life, Sufferings, and Travels of Gardner Harrington of Stephentown." 48 Regardless of its financial success, however, the firm of Stone and Munsell was not destined to survive. 46 Joel Munsell, Bibliothcca Munselliana, Albany, 1872. Munsell's personal interleaved and annotated copy (American Antiquarian Society) opposite p. 68. 47 Ibid., p. 2. 48 Growoll's copy of the Bibliotheca Munselliana Library), p. 2.

(New York State

CHAPTER V EARLY DAYS OF THE MUNSELL PRESS, 1836-1849 HAD GUTENBERG, the inventor of the type mould and the first printer from moveable types, come alive in a colonial printing shop, he would have had little difficulty in putting his hand to the press or in handling the type. The type itself, contained approximately the same proportions of lead, tin, and antimony as in his own day. The method of casting type was the same; the locking up of the type, the inking of the press, the pulling of the lever which brought the type to the paper—all were essentially as they existed during his life. The paper, made from properly combining rags and water, would appear to be much the same, as indeed it was, except for the fact that about 1690 the invention of the " Hollander " had changed its method of manufacture slightly—instead of allowing the rags to ferment and then sending them through a stamping mill to reduce them to a fibrous pulp, the Dutch machine reduced the rags to pulp directly by rotating them through a series of opposing dull metal blades which forced the rags to pass back and forth. W h e n Joel Munsell was born in 1808, the onset of the Industrial Revolution had affected the printing industry but little. Throughout the United States the common wooden presses of the English printers were still widely or almost exclusively in use. Although the leading typographers of England and Scotland had frequently lauded a seventeenth century Dutch improvement known as the Blaeu press, which was stronger, more exact in construction, and superior in minor features of operation, it was not in general use either in England or in the United States. Even the iron press, invented by Lord Stanhope in 1799, which because of its structural material allowed for the application of compound power to its impressing mechanism, thereby enabling the exertion of greater pressure with less power, and which, by its making of an abso136

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I37

lutely true flat plane of any reasonable size permitted the creation of platens large enough to print one side of a whole sheet by a single pull of the lever, was slow in gaining acceptance. Other aspects of the trade had remained unchanged with the exception of the invention of the paper making machine. Formerly, the paper maker dipped a wire-bottomed, wooden-sided mold into the vat of pulp and water, and then shook the mold to expel some of the water through the wire screen until a film of pulp, the first step in making the sheet of paper, was deposited. When sufficiently dehydrated, the sheets were passed on to other workmen who subjected them to pressure between felts, dried them, dipped them into a sizing solution to prevent blotting, again dried them, and then bundled them up in reams for use. In 1798, Nicholas Louis Robert, an employee of the famous French printing firm, Messrs. Didot, invented a machine which performed all the essential operations and processes of making a thin layer of pulp into paper and the drying and sizing it, and finally winding it up into a roll. The paper could then be fed directly into the press for newspaper printing or cut up into sheets of any desired size for other purposes. T h i s machine was introduced into England by Henry Fourdrinier who built his first Fourdrinier, as the machine was named, in 1803. Again, as in the case of the Stanhope press, the new invention had not yet arrived in America by 1808. The next quarter of a century saw great developments in the improvement of presses. The changes from a manually operated flat-bed press to a steam propelled cylinder press revolutionized the printing process. It was in the improvement of presses that America for the first time began to assume leadership in a branch of the typographic art. A s far back as 1796, A d a m Ramage of Philadelphia had improved the standard wooden presses by substituting for the old-fashioned slow moving screen whose unwinding produced the impression on the type form, a triple-thread, rapid motion screw that made for much quicker production. Basically, the same principles were used as in the older presses, but Ramage, by his excellent construc-

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tion coupled with the improved screw, produced the finest presses then built in America. His product won wide recognition among the printers of the first decades of the nineteenth century. It was on a Ramage press that Munsell printed his Albany Minerva in 1828. About 1807, George Clymer of Philadelphia began the construction of the Columbian press which for the first time since the days of Gutenberg, instituted a new principle. Instead of using the screw as the means of transmitting impressive power, Clymer substituted a series of levers operating on the principle of the fulcrum which multiplied the pull of the operator. His press, which began to receive recognition some ten years later, was followed by the Peter Smith press, built by R. Hoe & Co. in 1822, and Samuel Rust's famous Washington press perfected in 1827, the patent of which he sold to the Hoe firm. Both of these presses made use of the toggle joint, or the spindle and lever in place of the screw. The application of steam power to the railroad by Richard Trevithick in 1804 and to water-borne transportation early in the nineteenth century had promised that it would only be a matter of time before the steam engine would enter the printer's shop. A s early as 1822, Daniel Treadwell built a power press. He was followed by Isaac Adams who in 1830 perfected an improved power press. Both of these inventions, which were eventually absorbed by the Hoe Company, applied steam power to the familiar flat-bed and platen type of press. Before the building of the Treadwell press, English inventors had been experimenting with the use of two cylinders or one cylinder and a plane in the place of the two planes (flat-bed and platen) for greater speed. The addition of a roller to ink the type did away with the necessity of using a pressman or apprentice to ink the type with leather covered inkballs. Eventually. Friedrich Konig, a German who had tried in vain to market his invention in Europe, introduced the use of steam to the cylinder press successfully when he printed an edition of the London Times on November 28, 1814. In the United States, R. Hoe and

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Company began to build improved Napier cylinder presses which had first been perfected in England. T h e type was laid in the flat bed of the press, while the paper, fed by mechanical " Grippers " or fingers, revolved on the cylinder. Hoe's first cylinder press was set up in the office of the Temperance Recorder in Albany in 1830. It was originally designed to be driven by man power, but steam was substituted later. 1 T h e exact equipment of the Microscope office in 1834 is unknown. Undoubtedly the majority of its presses were handpowered. For its job printing, as distinguished from its newspaper work, it probably had one or t w o Washington presses as they continued for many years to be the most popular flat-bed and platen type presses. It is not inconceivable that it also contained an improved model of a Ramage press, for that enterprising press builder had embodied the new principle of levers in his productions. The new press whose purchase the publishers had so proudly announced, may possibly have been a Napier hand-driven press. Had it been a power press, it is more likely that the fact would have been advertised because of its novelty, regardless of the claim that was made that Packard and V a n Benthuysen were already using steam presses as early as 1828, when apparently only the Treadwell press was available.2 The equipment Munsell was working with in 1836, when he had severed his connection with the Microscope, is unknown. Again it is likely that presses embodying the use of the toggle joint and levers were in operation. In brief, despite some improvements in presswork, the early part of Munsell's career lay in the handicraft stage of printing. Typesetting was to remain a manual process until some years after Munsell's death in 1880 even though experiments with mechanical typesetters had been made as early as 1822 by William Church. 1 Hellmut Lehmann-Haupt, et al., The Book in America, pp. 63-76; John Clyde Oswald, Printing PP- 495-72 Oswald, op. cit., p. 226.

in the Americas,

N e w York, 1939, N e w York, 1937,

I40

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Munsell's relation with Stone had not been a happy one. Many years later he wrote that his partnership with Stone " was not only an unequal companionship, but the business was also uncongenial." 3 It is not unlikely that the ambitious young benedict, who was kept so busy with his work on the Microscope that he was forced to abandon his diary, had done more than his share of the work. Munsell probably preferred the work in the printshop; with the Microscope he was forced to spend much of his time in an editorial capacity. Although a month had elapsed between the first offer of a partnership and the completion of negotiations, some forty years afterwards Munsell claimed, " I had gone into it thoughtlessly, having no adviser, and seeing no opening of better promise." 4 Munsell bided his time until another opportunity arose. The printing office of Thomas G. Wait, at 58 State Street, which had been established by Hosford and Wait in 1 8 3 1 , was offered for sale. 5 Munsell terminated his partnership with Stone and, in October, 1836, purchased Wait's plant. There was a mortgage on the business, part of which Munsell was able to pay off immediately. Subsequent installments reduced it to two hundred dollars by 1838, when the mortgagee called for its payment. Munsell, lacking the ready cash, applied to Amos Dean, then a practicing attorney, to take the mortgage and hold it until Munsell could pay him off in printing. Dean, whose lectures Munsell had attended at the Young Men's Association, immediately drew his check for the amount and placed an order for the printing of his " Manual of Law for Busines Men." Munsell gratefully called it, " the most generous act I had experienced as a young beginner in business." 6 The printing 3 Joel Munsell, Bibliotheca Munselliana, Albany, 1872. Munsell's personal interleaved and annotated copy (American Antiquarian Society), p. 5. This copy is referred to hereafter as the " annotated Bibliotheca." 4 Ibid., p. 5. 5 Joel Munsell, Typographical

Miscellany, Albany, 1850, p. 252.

6 Munsell, annotated Bibliotheca, p. 8.

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plant was situated on the top floor of a building that had in 1779 served as the residence of John Jay, later famous for his contributions to the Federalist and for his service as first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and as Governor of New Y o r k State. The street floor was occupied in part by the " Old Gable Hall." 7 Munsell, styling his firm the " Gable Hall Printing Office," set to work on his first job, the printing of 2000 copies of a 36-page pamphlet entitled " A Practical Treatise on Sheep," printed for the author. The next decade and a half found Munsell busily engaged as a practical printer whose aim was to do his job as well as possible and to increase the size of his business. By printed circulars and advertisements inserted in his printed works, he solicited printing of every type—from a printed calling card to a newspaper. Letters were written in humbly respectful vein to prospective clients. Old associates at the Young Men's Association were called upon. The booksellers of Albany who published their own works were canvassed. Samples of his work were printed for free distribution.8 Munsell's efforts were not unsuccesful. By unremitting labor, by careful attention to details, Munsell gained more business as the years went on. 9 By close personal attention he was able to keep his prices as low as other printers even though careful workmanship, which Munsell always kept in mind, was likely to be more costly. The strictest economies were practised. For example, every bit of paper was carefully used. Odd sheets of paper were used to carry on correspondence with old clients 7 Munsell, Webster's Almanac, Albany, 1863; undated newspaper clipping in Munsell's Albany Scrapbooks, vol. I ( N e w York State L i b r a r y ) . 8 Joel Munsell t o T . Apolion Cheney, N o v e m b e r 1, 11862. Miscellaneous Manuscripts (Grolier Club, N e w Y o r k ) . H i s Outlines of the History of Printing was used as a specimen of his pamphlet printing. 9 Munsell, annotated Bibliotheca. years from 1837 onward.

T h e list of imprints g r o w s with

the

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familiar. 10

who had become Although the business world of a later day might regard it as poor economy for a printer not to use stationery imprinted with his own letterhead, the comparative informality of business procedures of the middle of the nineteenth century did not look askance at such methods. F r o m time to time Munsell expanded the equipment of his plant to keep pace with his growing business. T w o advertisements in the year 1849 £ ' v e testimony of his willingness to undertake any form of printing from types. Inserted in the pages of one of his pamphlets, under the heading, " Book and Fancy Job Printing," was the following notices: J. Munsell executes to order every kind of Letter Press Printing. His office is furnished with Power, Hand and Card Presses, and with the best of materials for all kinds of BOOKS AND PAMPHLETS and as every department is under his own immediate superintendence, he is always prepared to issue works of any size, and in any modern style, with as great despatch, and on as good terms as any printer in this vicinity. The best of references will be given, and samples of workmanship exhibited, by which new customers will be able to judge for themselves of the facts above stated. Cards, Circulars and Handbills, for Merchants, Mechanics and Manufacturers, printed at an hour's notice, and on types of the newest fashion, and at the lowest prices. Also as above, Programmes and Show Bills for Concerts, Auction Bills, etc., etc. Additions are constantly being made of the new styles of types and borders as they come out. Orders are solicited for anything in the above line. 11 A n d from the back cover of a small paper bound book of the same year, under a picture of his printing office, Munsell advertises: 10 Almost all his early correspondence and most of his letters after 1850 were on ordinary pieces of paper. A short communication such as he wrote to Professor Jonathan Pearson of Union College on October 2, 1872 (now in the writer's possession) is on a scrap of paper measuring a little under by 8 inches. 11 Joel Munsell, Webster's

Calendar or the Albany Almanac, Albany, 1849.

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Books and Pamphlets, in English, French, German, Greek and Latin and other European Languages, printed in characters appropriate to each, with taste and accuracy, on types provided expressly for the purpose. Particular attention given to printing Sermons, Lectures and Addresses, samples of which may be seen at the office, exhibiting a style of workmanship seldom surpassed.12 Of the vast amount of ephemeral printing that came from Munsell's shop, such as cards, circulars, handbills, and printed stationery of all sorts, there are none in existence today for the period up to 1850 that can be definitely identified as Munsell's. These items no doubt provided a considerable portion of his business. There are no surviving examples of any printing in foreign languages at this time. Munsell's list of imprints, which came from his press in 1870, under the title Bibliotheca Munselliana, A Catalogue of the Books and Pamphlets Issued from the Press of Joel Munsell, records only the printing in Latin several times of a Catholic School catalogue. A s there was a considerably community of German-speaking people in Albany at this time, it is very possible that he printed some items for this group. It was not like Munsell to make extravagant claims—certain it is that his shop was equipped for such printing. The years following 1850 gave ample evidence of his work in many languages. Munsell's advertisement announcing himself as a book and pamphlet printer was likewise no idle boast. In 1837, twenty-one separate titles were issued, from twelve page pamphlets to a book of 312 pages. 13 From then on, the number increased so that for the last five years of the period, from 1844 t o I%49> he averaged more than forty separate titles per year. 12 Munsell, Albany Annual Register, Albany, 1849, Back Cover. 13 Munsell, Bibliotheca Munselliana. This work was not all inclusive. Munsell's personal interleaved anl annotated copy shows the addition in his own hand of a considerable number of items. T h e writer has also been able to discover unlisted items. With few exceptions, however, only some pamphlets of the same type that were listed, were omitted. F o r purposes of this chapter, the printed list is used as the omissions are not significant.

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EARLY

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Even a cursory glance at the above table, compiled from Munsell's Bibliotheca, reveals that the largest single body of Munsell's productions up to 1850 were related to church matters. Munsell, who had, only a few years before, been writing attacks on organized religious bodies, now found them to be among his best customers. Even when he was most vehement in his tirades against the church, Munsell had continued to attend church services and to pay keen attention to the sermons. His acquaintance with the churches of Albany probably stood him in good stead in getting their patronage and that of church organizations throughout the central part of the state. The Annual Reports of the Albany Bible Society, The Minutes of the Particular [Lutheran] Synod of Albany, were items that he printed year after year. Although Munsell did more printing for the Lutherans than for any other sect (he became a member of a Lutheran church), he was still favored with the printing of such items as the Minutes of the Rensselaerville Baptist Association and the Minutes of the Troy Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Many of these meetings led to the delivery of special sermons which were ordered to be printed. In addition, various church congregations or the ministers themselves had copies of their sermons printed. The Reverend William B. Sprague, author of the encyclopedic Annals of the American Pulpit, proved to be a valuable person as far as Munsell was concerned, for he received many orders to print either his sermons, his funeral orations, or his addresses before such groups as the Literary Societies of Wesleyan University and the Young Ladies' Institute of Albany. Closely related to his printing for religious bodies was his work as printer of eulogies for the dead. According to the custom of the day, the family of the deceased would often order the " funeral sermon," as it was called, to be printed for distribution among the friends of the family. Generally the funeral sermon was delivered by a minister in a church, but if the deceased had been a member of an educational, literary, or busi-

146

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ness institution, a memorial address w a s often delivered by a fellow member at a meeting. Memoirs were often prepared by members of the family. W h e n Ambrose Spencer, who had been Chief Justice of the N e w Y o r k State Supreme Court, died, John C. Spencer prepared a memorial consisting of the proceedings of public bodies, special meetings, and the sermons and addresses occasioned by the latter's death. 14 Orders to print funeral sermons, eulogies, and memoirs, came to Munsell in large numbers. New England apparently had no monopoly on theological interests. T h e N e w Y o r k religious bodies frequently had occasion to order catechisms from Munsell's press. Munsell's first book, after he became sole owner of a printing plant, was Charles A . Smith's The Catechumen's Guide, prepared with special reference to the Wants of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in-the United States. One thousand copies of this 312page book were printed in 1837. Many a theological controversy was fought with a war of pamphlets. T h e Reverend John N . Campbell, a Presbyterian minister, carried on his battle with Catholicism through the media of pulpit and press. Munsell in 1838 printed 875 copies of his Papal Rome identified with the Great Apostacy predicted in the Scriptures which ran to 105 pages; out of the latter's strictures on the episcopal organization of churches came an answer in the form of an Apology for the Holy Dead, by a Student of the Episcopacy, printed in 1843. Such titles as Thoughts on the Immortality and Future Condition of Man, The Argument for Apostolical Succession, The Heresy of the Baptists exhibited in Contrast with Holy Scriptures and with the Doctrine and Practice of the Church of God from fhe Earliest Times (printed in the interest of Episcopalians), and Universalism, the Doctrine of the Primitive Christian Church (printed for Universalists)—all came from the press in a single 14 Ibid., p. 38. T h e information concerning Munsell's printing from 1837^ 49, if not specifically attributed t o another source, is found in the Bibliotheca Munselliana, pp. 6-39.

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year—1843. addition, various laymen, such as farmers and artisans, occasionally felt moved to express their individual theological interpretations in print N o t all religious literature was polemical, however, for the same year saw the printing of 5000 copies of the Bible Expositor and 3000 copies of William I. Kip's 225-page The History, Object, and Proper Observance 0f the Holy Season of Lent. T h e writing, delivering of, and attendance at public speeches bulked much larger in the intellectual horizon (and in volume) in the nineteenth century than in that of the twentieth. A d dresses delivered at school commencement exercises, at the Y o u n g Men's Association, at meetings of medical societies, at Independence D a y celebrations, and such vote-getting devices as a " Substance of an Extemporaneous Oration, on Irish Repeal," were grist for Munsell's mill. N o t a few of these speeches were delivered by such popular ministers as Campbell and Sprague. Sometimes the addresses were printed at the expense of the speaker, more often it was paid for by the group before whom it had been delivered. A pamphlet printer like Munsell found considerable business among commercial and fraternal organizations and in associations formed for various purposes. F o r these he printed annual reports, papers of incorporation, and constitutions and by-laws. A m o n g his customers were the Albany A x e Company, and the Journeymen Stonecutters' Association, for both of whom he printed by-laws. F o r the Albany and Saratoga Plank Road Company he printed in 1848 the " Articles of Association." Various lodges ordered copies of their constitutions printed. T h e Albany Phrenological Association ordered its constitution printed in 1840; the Albany Academy ordered its " Statutes " printed, and the New Y o r k State Colonization Society had Munsell print its " Annual Report." Occasionally he printed a larger work such as the Transactions of the Medical Society of the State of New York, edited by Dr. T . Romeyn Beck of Albany of which four volumes were ordered in 1840 and one in 1841.

148

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MUNSELL

Another steady source of income was the printing of various catalogues. Schools, churches, and organizations ordered the printing of catalogues of their libraries; the various academies, as the Albany Academy, already mentioned, the T r o y Conference Academy at Poultney, Vermont, and the Albany Female Academy did likewise; such higher institutions of learning as the College of Physicians and Surgeons of the Western District of New Y o r k , the Albany Medical College, the Castleton Medical College, also ordered their catalogues from Munsell. Albany merchants issued catalogues and lists of saleable merchandise. Should the merchandise fail to sell, Munsell was ready to print the catalogue of the auctioneer. T h e printing of popular works, although few titles came from his press, was frequently important to Munsell because of the size of the editions. A m o n g these were novels, juvenile fiction and popular tales printed for quick sale. The latter, running in length from a twelve-page pamphlet to a book of over 300 pages, were sold by bookstores in Albany and surrounding cities and were then peddled over the countryside. A local " Parson Weems " seems to have been Josiah Priest, author and publisher of a wide variety of tales and " by trade a harness maker " according to Francis Drake's Dictionary of American Biography. In 1837 Munsell printed for him 15,000 copies of a forty-page pamphlet containing Stories oj Early Settlers in the Wilderness. Included was an account of the life of Mrs. Priest and " v a r i o u s and interesting accounts of others; the first raftsmen of the Susquehanna; a short account of Brant, the British Indian Chief; and of the Massacre of W y o m i n g . " T h e work was announced as being " Embellished with a large and beautiful engraving." The same year Priest wrote the more pretentious, " The Anti-Universalist, or a History oj Fallen Angels oj the Scriptures; Proofs oj the Being oj Satan and oj Evil Spirits, and many other curious matters connected herewith. Embellished with twelve engravings. By Josiah Priest, author of The Millenium, American Antiquities, etc." Five thousand copies were ordered of this book-length work. The

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success of Weems' biography of Washington containing the apocryphal cherry tree story, 18 tempted Priest to follow suit in 1841 with a History of the Early Adventures of Washington among the Indians of the West, of which he ordered 4000 copies. In this work Priest went Weems one better by involving Washington in a love affair with an Irish girl whom he had met in the wilderness. Munsell could not restrain himself from remarking wryly that " Priest was undoubtedly the greatest inventor of ancient history and biography of his time." In 1841 Priest also wrote an account of the adventures of one Isaac Hubbell among the Indians and his marriage to an Indian princess " now first published from the lips of the hero himself." Of this 64-page booklet, Munsell printed 6000 copies. A more modest effort in 1844 was A Copy of the Grants of the Van Rensselaer and Livingston Families, together with a History of the Settlement of Albany, gathered from authentic sources. This pamphlet of thirty-two pages, of which 2000 copies were printed, was intended for the benefit of renters residing on the old Dutch estates. After the death of Stephen Van Rensselaer, his heirs had tried to collect overdue rent payments. Their efforts resulted in arousing their tenants to fight the " Anti-Rent War " of 1839. As the controversy was not finally settled until 1847, the enterprising Priest had published a pamphlet on the timely subject. Another popular account much in demand was John Dixon's The Twin Brothers: being the Lives of John and James Dixon. Munsell's first order for 3000 copies was printed in 1844; a second edition of 6000 copies was ordered the following year, and a third edition of the same size in 1847. O n e thousand copies of the 196-page book, Columbus and His Times was printed in 1844 and again in 1847. Munsell himself was not above aiding the production of chap books, as these volumes, often printed in small format, were called. During a lull in business in 1839, he translated Bernal Diaz del Castillo's 15 Mason Locke Weems' biography of Washington was published in 1806. An earlier edition in i£oo did not contain the apocryphal incidents.

I50

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account in Spanish of the fall of Mexico and printed it as The Full and True History of the Conquest of Mexico by Cortes, etc.," by A r t h u r Prynne, a pseudonym that he used on several occasions. A standard item in the bookstores of Albany was juvenile literature. In 1843 Munsell printed 500 copies of Isaac Taylor's Scenes in Asia, for the Amusement and Instruction of Little Tarry-at-Home Travelers. A g a i n Munsell helped his business along by creating printing matter when in 1848 he printed Joel Munsell's Select Stories for Children, designed for their Moral and Religious Improvement, a compilation gathered principally from the Youth's Companion,18 T h e same year saw a series of eight-page children's stories such as The House that Jack Built and The History of Goody-Two Shoes come from his press. It is not unlikely that these had formed a part of his Select Stories and were later issued individually. The publication of novels was, in the nineteenth century, almost exclusively confined to large cities, especially New Y o r k , Philadelphia, and Boston. Occasionally, however, an exception is to be noted. Of Curtis M . Newton, Munsell wrote that he was " of limited education, a whiskey drinking, tobacco chewing, profane swearing, and squalid specimen of humanity. A benevolent individual aided him in the publication of his books in the hope of reclaiming him; but he soon relapsed and swindled his benefactor. H i s fictions, however, had a good run." In 1843, Munsell printed 1500 copies of Newton's The Bride of the Northern Wilds; another 1200 copies were printed in 1857. The success of his first novel encouraged him to write another, The Doom of the Tory's Guard, like the first, on a Revolutionary theme. Munsell printed 6000 copies of this work in 1844. Four years later Munsell was busy with an order for printing 500 copies each of seven of Charlotte Elizabeth's volumes consisting of short novels and tales. Mrs. Charlotte Elizabeth Tonna, an Englishwoman who dropped her surname in her published writings, was then widely read on both sides 16 Munsell, annotated Bibliotheca, p. 33.

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of the Atlantic for her many " Tales Suitable for Sabbath Schools," as at least one of her works was sub-titled. No less a firm than that of Charles Scribner published her works in a twelve volume edition. Her last novel, Humility before Honor, was printed by Munsell in 1849, this time with a memoir of the author by the Reverend William B. Sprague. Neither the Newton nor the Tonna novels were released in the usual way, i.e., by a printer publisher. Newton acted as his own publisher. It is more than likely that most of their books were disposed of by peddlers making the rounds of small villages and farms. Albany, capital of the leading state in the Union, was, because of its position, the source of much printing. In addition to a considerable body of public printing, the fact that Albany was the center of a political machine, the " Albany Regency," resulted in the creation of a considerable body of political literature. Munsell's shy, modest manner was not likely to make him a popular figure among politicians, so that little public or political printing fell to his lot. Not that Munsell did not make some effort to get part of this business. On January 30, 1843, he humbly but vainly requested Archibald Campbell, who was then a member of the staff of the Secretary of State, to put in a good word for him with the latter official.17 Until 1869, most of the State's printing was done by the long established Van Benthuysen firm and thereafter an increasing share went to the Argus Company and to Weed, Parsons, and Co. of which Thurlow Weed, a member of the Albany Regency, was a partner. Through the years some small items such as the reports of special committees that dealt with local Albany matters were printed by Munsell. Occasionally some political printing fell to Munsell such as an order for 4000 copies of the Proceedings of the Whig Convention in 1838, and one in 1848, for the printing of 5,100 copies of a 64-page campaign biography, Outlines of the Life and Character of Lewis Cass. The latter, although published as an anonymous work, was written by 17 Joel Munsell to Archibald Campbell, January 30, 1843, Miscellaneous Manuscripts ( N e w York Historical Society).

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Henry Rowe Schoolcraft who had accompanied General Cass on his Western explorations. Schoolcraft had been born in what is now Guilderland, near Albany, and had gone to the West where he became an outstanding student of American Indian lore. His account of the Hiawatha legend was to serve as the background for Longfellow's poem. 18 During the hotly contested election campaign of 1840, the Democrats had started a lively campaign newspaper called the Plain Dealer which was printed at Southwick's. A s he later claimed, Hugh J. Hastings persuaded several members of the Whig party to start an opposition paper. 19 Accordingly, they secured the funds and undertook the publication of the Unionist, whose first issue appeared on September 19, 1840, printed by Joel Munsell.20 According to Munsell, the paper's backers, representing a faction of the W h i g party, had, as their principal aim, the election of Daniel D. Barnard to Congress. The Unionist, which for a short period enjoyed a large circulation, was discontinued as soon as the election was over. Albany, in its role as state capital, was the scene of much litigation. Legal opinions, reports of cases, and legal textbooks were in great demand. A s early as 1837, Munsell printed an account of a trial in the Court for the Correction of Errors, as it was then called, and a pamphlet of twelve pages by one of New York's outstanding legal minds, entitled, Opinion of Chancellor [James] Kent on the Usury Laws. The next year saw the printing of Dean's A Manual of Law jor Business Men to which reference was already made. In the chart showing the distribution of his imprints, only eighteen legal works are mentioned. Actually, his legal printing, much of it omitted from mention in the Bibliotheca, was much larger in volume. 21 From 18 Chase S. Osborn and Stellanova Osborn, Schoolcraft -* Longfellow -» Hiawatha, Lancaster, Pa., 1942. 19 Hugh J. Hastings, Letter to the editor, Albany 18, 1879.

Mirror,

November

20Joel Munsell, Chronological Record of Printing (Manuscript in the American Antiquarian Society), II, 312. 21 Munsell, annotated Bibliotheca, records many of these omissions.

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1841 to 1849 he printed the records of dozens of trials held in the Supreme Court, then the highest court of the State. 22 From 1845 t o 1849 he printed five volumes of reports of cases argued and determined in the Supreme Court Weare C. Little and Co., Albany booksellers who handled legal publications, asked Munsell to print for them the Rules of Practice oj the Supreme Court oj the State oj New York in 1849. So large was the volume of his legal publications that from 1849 t o J ^ i , he continually used the words, " Joel Munsell, Law Printer " on the verso of the title pages.23 During most of the nineteenth century it was relatively inexpensive to publish a newspaper. A s most large printing houses were equipped to print newspapers, the acquisition of a printing plant was unnecessary. One needed only to hire a small editorial staff, procure some subscriptions in advance, and engage a printer. The beginning of a magazine was even more simple as the amount of capital required was negligible. Hundreds of magazines were started, went through several issues and were discontinued. Munsell received his measure of such printing. In 1841 he printed 500 copies of E. G. Squier's Ladies' Magazine of which only a few numbers were issued. Squier, undaunted by his failure, started the Parlor Magazine and Ladies' Cabinet in January of the next year.24 Munsell lent the editor a helping hand by contributing " Claudine; a Savoyard Tale of Truth, translated from the French of M. Florian by J. Munsell." 25 Two months later, Squier started the Poets' Magazine which ran to 92 pages and of which 1200 copies were ordered. Concerning this publication Munsell remarked tersely, 22 The old Supreme Court continued to try cases until March, 1849. It was succeeded by the Court of Appeals. 23 The Harmanus Bleecker Library in Albany contains the largest collection of Munsell imprints in existence, bound in 122 volumes. It contains a copy of the " Rules of Practice " in Series 1, Vol. X V I , and many volumes of legal pamphlets. 24 Munsell, Chronological Record, II, 326. 25 Parlor Magazine and Ladies' Cabinet, January 1842, vol. I, no. 1, p. 72 (Harmanus Bleecker Library, Munsell's Imprints, series I, vol. X X ) .

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" W o r k never completed—never s o l d — w a s never paid for." Squier tried to recoup his fortunes when in 1843 he ordered 4000 copies of his 112-page The Chinese as They are, etc., a w o r k intended for popular consumption. T h e complete title of the work is itself a full-sized paragraph. Squier was to have a varied career as a publicist for early in 1845 he was editing the Hartford Daily Journal and in May of that year he became editor of the Scioto [Ohio] Gazette. Some fifteen years later he was to call on Munsell again to print a projected series of tracts relating to Latin-America. But Munsell's experiences with literary magazines were not yet over. In July, 1841, he had begun the printing of the American Magazine and Repository of Useful Literature: " devoted to Science Literature and A r t s and embellished with numerous engravings," published by B. W o o d and edited by him and his father, J. S. Wood. This work, in appearance and content no different from many other similar publications, ran through the course of an entire year. A g a i n Munsell was called in to help. For each of the first eight issues he contributed an article entitled " Memorable Events in ," the title being changed in each installment to correspond with the current month. The items had been culled from Joel Munsell's Every Day Book which was still in manuscript at this time (it w a s not printed until 1843). Another contribution by Munsell to the American Magazine was an article, " T h e Learned in L i m b o " in the September, 1841, issue, which gave brief accounts of important historical characters such as Socrates and H u g o Grotius who were shut up in jail. 26 The American Magazine ceased publication in April, 1842. A more pretentious monthly, the American Literary Magazine edited by J. D w i g h t Sprague, and containing short stories, biographical sketches, book reviews, travel accounts, and essays, appeared on July 1, 1847. This magazine, which ran to 64 pages per issue and of which 3000 copies per issue were printed by Munsell, also 26 American Magazine, July, 1841-December, I£41, vol. I, no. 1-6; J a n u ary, February, 1842, vol. II, no. 1, 2.

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lasted only one year. In 1847 Munsell also issued several numbers of the Parthenon, a magazine published by Union College students. The Gavel: a Monthly Periodical devoted to Odd Fellowship and General Literature, edited by Thomas L. Harris and John Tanner, was similar in scope to the literary magazines of the day except that it contained considerable news concerning the Odd Fellows lodges. Munsell began the printing of 3500 copies of this magazine with its second volume, in September, 1845, and continued it until the volume limped to completion with a joint July and A u g u s t issue in 1846. T h e Gavel was succeeded by the Odd Fellows' Magazine in July, 1848, which in turn lasted for a year. Only 3000 copies were ordered from Munsell this time. Of periodicals of a weightier nature there was also an abundance. Munsell printed The Lutheran Pulpit, and Monthly Religious Magazine, edited by Charles A . Smith, author of the Catechumen's Guide, in 1837. T h e fulminations of the Reverend John N. Campbell against the episcopacy were cut up into short articles and issued as a periodical in nine numbers from February to May, 1844, under the title, The Reformation Defended Against the Evils of the Times. The even more prolific Reverend William B. Sprague was the principal editor of the Religious Spectator, a weekly published during the same year. The Spectator, 1500 copies of which Munsell printed for the first number and which was reduced by the second to 1000 copies, was in form a newspaper rather than a magazine. It was published by Munsell in conjunction with the Albany bookseller, Erastus H. Pease. 27 The paper passed into other hands the following year. During the time Munsell was publishing the periodical, when Dr. Sprague brought some biographical sketches for it to him, Munsell suggested that they be made into a pamphlet. Some time afterwards, the good Reverend, happening to meet Munsell on the street, told him, " I have considered the matter and instead of a pamphlet, I think I will add to it 27 Munsell, Chronological Record, I I I , p. 10.

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and make a duodecimo." A few weeks later, Sprague informed Munsell, " I shouldn't wonder if that book were an octavo." The idea grew with the author so that still later he thought that at least two octavos would be required to contain his manuscript. From 1857 to 1859 Sprague finally published in nine octavo volumes, The Annals of the American Pulpit! Unfortunately for Munsell, however, the printing was done by another firm.28 Another periodical of a serious nature, the New York Reformer, edited by John Abbott and printed by Munsell, ceased publication in February, 1848, after having run its course in ten months.29 Of Munsell's printing of the Transactions of the Medical Society of the State of New York, mention has already been made. In 1846 and 1847 Munsell printed volumes three to six of the American Quarterly Journal of Agriculture and Science, edited by Dr. E. Emmons and A. Osborne and published by Huntington and Savage of 2 1 6 Pearl Street, New York. The New York State Mechanic, sponsored by an association of the same name, was a weekly paper printed by Munsell from November 24, 1841, to June 17, 1843. Two years later there were three new publications in Albany. The Mechanic's Journal, published by Joel Munsell and Robert MacFarlane appears to have been first in the field. John Tanner of the Gavel came out with a rival Mechanic's Advocate.30 MacFarlane countered with another work, The Mechanic's Mirror, which Munsell also printed.31 Unfortunately for the education of the Albany mechanics, none of these publications survived their first year. 28 H. P. Phelps, "A Biographical Sketch of Joel Munsell," Albany Mirror, November 8, 1879. The details in the sketch show familiarity with Munsell's Diary and as some of the details could have come only from Munsell, it seems likely that the latter's collaboration was enlisted. 2 9 " The Press of Albany," in the Albany Evening Times, February 23, 1872. Munsell's personal annotated and interleaved copy of the Typographical Miscellany has a copy of the article pasted opposite p. 224; Munsell, Chronological Record, III, 13. 30 Munsell, Chronological Record, III, 6. 31 Munsell, annotated Bibliotheca,

p. 29.

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T o complete Munsell's record as a newspaper printer, in addition to the New York State Mechanic and the Unionist, mention must be made of The Irishman, published by H. O. Kane in 1842, a newspaper that lasted exactly seven weeks. 32 With John G. Stewart, a barber, and Charles S. Morton as editors, The Northern Star and Freeman's Advocate, was launched on January 20, 1842, as a weekly paper devoted to the interest of Negroes. It advocated various reforms and the equal rights of men. " It will particularly exert itself in the dissemination of education among the colored portion of the community as the best means of improving their condition." Its articles, temperate in tone and with a high moral purpose, dealt with social and moral questions such as temperance, electoral reforms, and education. Its editors refused to accept advertisements for patent medicines and taverns were liquor was dispensed. To advance its sale, agents to receive subscriptions had been appointed in various parts of the state and in Maine, Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Unfortunately, however, it failed to receive sufficient patronage and was abandoned early in 1843. From colonial times onward, a standard item of the printer was his annual almanac. Not only did the almanac contain a calendar, weather guide, and such astronomical information as the hour and minute of the rising and setting of the sun, but it also included the widest possible variety of printed matter— short stories, travel talks, wise sayings, anecdotes, recipes, medical advice, household hints—in short anything the printer thought would entertain or educate his readers. The greatest of colonial printers, Isaiah Thomas and Benjamin Franklin, were famous for their almanacs which sold in the thousands of copies. It was in Franklin's almanacs that Poor Richard made his bid for fame. So widespread was the sale of almanacs that many a rude colonial homesteader in the wilderness, whose library consisted of the Bible and little more, managed nevertheless to have an almanac. Their popularity, although diminished, was far from gone in Munsell's day and the enterprising 32 " The Press of Albany," op. cit.

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young printer was on the lookout for the possibility of either establishing one himself or acquiring an existing one. In 1840, Munsell tried his hand at preparing his own almanac. After collecting the materials he published a modest 1000 copies entitled Prynne's Almanac for 1841, written ostensibly by Arthur Prynne who, as it has been noted, was Joel Munsell himself. In 1841, having received an order from the firm of Webster and Skinners to print 5000 copies of the 1842 edition of Webster's Calendar or the Albany Almanac, he abandoned his own. Originally as Poor Ned's Almanack, edited by " Ned Foresight, Gent.", Webster's Calendar had been begun as far back as 1783, 43 by Balentine and Webster, who were the second firm of printers in Albany. In the third issue its title had been changed to the one subsequently in use. Among its editors through the years were such gentry as " Abraham Allwise, Esq., Student in Astronomy," " Eben W. Judd, Philomath," " Isaac Lickerstaff, Esq., and " Andrew Beers, Philom." Balentine and Webster had given way to C. and G. Webster and then to Webster and Skinners but still the almanac continued. By 1843, however, its circulation had declined so badly that its publishers were about to abandon it. If for no other reason than that his antiquarian instincts revolted at the idea of a publication of sixty years duration being abandoned, Joel Munsell proposed to the publishers that he would promise to continue it as long as I should live, although its sale might entirely cease, so that I should need but a single copy for myself and to pay them a royalty for the title of a certain number of copies each year during their lives.34 Munsell kept his promise. For the next thirty-six years that remained of his life it appeared regularly. Thereafter it was carried on by his sons, Frank and then Charles until the latter's death in 1914. Charles' daughters, Grace and Harriet Munsell, continued its publication until the 1917 issue. Sales had dropped 33 Printed in 17S3 for the year 1784. 34 Munsell, annotated Bibliotheca,

p. 18.

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off to an extent where it was being carried on at a loss and was being continued only for sentimental reasons. As Grace Munsell was then busy as an employee of the State and Harriet was moving to New York, they tried unsuccessfully to interest the Albany Institute and Historical and Art Society and other local organizations to continue it. Finally, the Knickerbocker Press agreed to publish it for 1918, but as they changed its appearance, it was no longer the almanac which had appeared regularly for one hundred and thirty-three years. 35 From the very first issue of Webster's Calendar, which Munsell published in his own right, that of 1844, the almanac reflected his interests and personality. Because of its significance as a revelation of the mind and heart of its publishers, and because it deserves a connected account in its own right, the character of the Almanac for its entire career under the Munsell imprint will be discussed, even though it interrupts the chronological account of Munsell's work. Joel Munsell indicated in his first number his awareness of what he must have felt his moral obligations in undertaking the continuance of the historic Webster's Calendar. He proudly announced that, after Franklin's " Poor Richard " and Isaiah Thomas' Almanac, Webster's Calendar was the most famous in the country. Subscribers were warned about a competing pirated edition then being issued by another firm.36 The tables of all sorts of information with which the previous publisher had filled the Almanac gave way to a host of tales and anecdotes. According to custom, one page was devoted to each month with the number of the days appearing on the left hand side in linear order. However, whereas the previous publishers listed occasional events of historic importance next to the days, Munsell succeeded in finding an event for each day of the year. He was enabled to fill in the necessary information all the more 35 Harriet Munsell Mullcr to Clarence S. Brigham, June 19, 1940, Library Correspondence (American Antiquarian S o c i e t y ) . 36 Webster's Calendar or the Albany Almanac, 1844 edition.

l6o

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easily because he was printing his own Every History and Chronology the very same year.

Day Book

of

Of the tales and anecdotes which filled the pages of the Almanac many were similar to those which appeared in the various scrapbooks, of which he had a good store. A s the years went on, more and more historical information appeared. In the 1845 edition, there w a s an account of Fitch's steamboat; in the 1848 there was a short sketch entitled " Discovery of America " ; the next issue contained a biography of Charles R. Webster, founder of the Almanac; a copy of an old engraving of the plan of the city of Albany in 1695 and its fort, as well as an account of " Ancient Albany " were also printed in the same issue. Other articles dealt with such a variety of matter as " E x c u r s i o n to Pompeii," in 1846, " British Coins," in 1850, accounts of papyrus and cuneiform tablets, in 1856, and " Customs of the Ancient Egyptians," in 1876. T h e Almanac also reflected Munsell's interest in typographic matters. T h e 1854 edition contained a short sketch of the invention of moveable type. The woodcuts which had long been used to illustrate the twelve months had been replaced by the signs of the zodiac in 1842. Munsell suffered them to be continued in 1844 and 1845 but replaced them in his third year as publisher in the 1846 edition. Concerning writing materials, reference has already been made to articles on papyrus and clay tablets. T h e 1866 edition informed its readers that it was printed on paper made from Jamaica bamboo, the pulp of which had been prepared by a New Y o r k firm and which had been made into paper by the Messrs. Chittenden of Stockport, Columbia County, New York. In addition, many of the issues were embellished by woodcuts of presses then in use. If ever the contents of the Almanac left doubt in the minds of its readers as to the identity of the guiding spirit who selected, collected and arranged the subject matter, such doubt was dispelled in the 1847 edition when Munsell finally placed his own name on the title page as the author. 37 In the 1853 37 Munsell, annotated Bibliotheca,

p. 27.

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edition, he threw reticence himself looking skyward, underneath the picture, Weather." Accompanying sell saying that,

OF

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to the winds in printing a picture of but instead of printing his name he styled himself " Clerk of the the likeness was an article by Mun-

Since Webster's Calendar became the accredited organ of the weather, there is no use looking into any other Almanac to know the changes at any season of the year, for the reason that the Clerk of the Weather, whose choicest recollections are of the days of cocked hat and leather integuments, can not be induced to keep a lookout from any but a Dutch gable window, and this is the last of the Gable Enders in State Street. When, in the course of the following year, he was forced to move from his " Gable Ender," he referred to the removal of the " O b s e r v a t o r y " in the next edition. T h e subject of the weather had indeed long been dear to Munsell as the records he made of any unusual phenomena in his diary testify. A s early as the 1849 edition of the Almanac, he was already referring to the " Clerk of the Weather " in these words, " W e have provided him a niche in the gable where he keeps a sharp lookout at all times. He is on the very best of terms with the Man in the Moon, boasting of having smoked many a pipe with him." Munsell was not above using such humorous sallies more than once. A s late as the 1875 edition, he declared that " the weather will not be suffered to deteriorate by reason of the competition set up at the great manufactory in Washington by one Probabilities, nor any other innovator." A n d finally, in fitting tribute to Munsell's role, his name appeared annually as author for seventeen years after his death, when it was replaced by that of his son, Charles, in the 1898 edition. A s soon as Munsell took over the control of Webster's Calendar, the sales jumped to an edition of 20,000 and subsequently to as many as 40,000 copies. 38 Only a fraction of these 38 Ibid., p. 18.

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were sold directly by Munsell. The Albany bookdealers handled the Almanac in their stores. Munsell would print the name of the dealer as the publisher so that at times copies of the Almanac appeared under the imprint of W. C. Little, E. H. Pease, James Henry, B. Blakeman, Gray and Sprague, Joseph Lord, P. L. Gilbert, S. R. Gray, Sprague and Company, and the Albany News Company. Various mercantile and industrial establishments bought large quantities of the Almanac to distribute them as gifts to their clientele. Munsell was ever ready to supply his own Almanac, " The Trade Supplied by the Gross or Thousand," or to print others as the 1856 edition announced, " Almanacs printed in every form and style to suit the purposes of medicine dealers and country merchants." To increase the revenues from the Almanac, occasionally advertisements were obtained. The i860 edition advertised the sale of G. "and C. Merriam's edition of Webster's Dictionary, the Carver and Baker Sewing Machines, and Herrick's " Sugarcoated Pills " and " Strengthening Plasters." The next year Puderson's " Conditioning Powders" for horses shared the limelight with advertisements for Steinway pianos and Boardman and Gray pianos. A faithful advertiser during the 1870's was Jasper Van Wormer, stove manufacturer, pillar of the church which Munsell attended, and eventually one of the executors of Munsell's estate. The Almanac also served as a medium of advertising Munsell's own activities. Each issue had a modest advertisement for its printer. The 1849 edition spoke of Munsell's power presses. From 1851 to 1858 Munsell was advertised as a " Printer and Stereotyper " and from 1856 on, various editions listed the books Munsell had for sale. To resume the account of Munsell's printing activities before 1850, it must be noted that, as Albany contained a Medical College, a Law School, the Albany Academy, and the Female Academy, a considerable body of printing was provided for educational purposes. Of opening addresses, annual reports, and

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lectures, mention has already been made. When Amos Dean began to lecture on the legal aspects of medicine at the Albany Medical College, he had 800 copies of his Manual of Medical Jurisprudence printed. Members of the faculty frequently presented papers that were put into print. Several tracts were printed for Dr. Ebenezer Emmons, a famous American geologist who was occupying the chair of chemistry at the Albany Medical College. For Dr. Asa Fitch, pioneer American entomologist, Munsell reprinted his article on the " Hessian Fly " from the American Quarterly Journal of Agriculture and Science, which, as we have noted, had Dr. Emmons as one of its editors. And as the New Y o r k State Medical Society met in Albany for its annual meetings, there were " Transactions " and addresses to print. Even quack medicine produced its literature. In 1841 Munsell printed several thousand 88 copies of Samuel Thomson's The Thomsonian Materia Medica, which contained 834 pages. The book was sold by the Thomsons, father and son, for twenty dollars. Purchasers were entitled to become practitioners. The interest in phrenology which manifested itself in the lectures on that subject before the Young Men's Association had continued unabated. In 1839 Munsell printed 500 copies of a Phrenological Chart. The next year he issues 2000 copies of J. Stanley Grimes' Outlines of Grimes's New System of Phrenology as well as Thomas W . Olcott's Addresses Delivered before the Albany Phrenological Society. Olcott, a prominent banker, had been elected president of that organization. The printing of textbooks was a leading source of income for the colonial printer. In the early part of the nineteenth century it continued to fall to the province of the general printer. Although Munsell did not get any considerable amount of such business, there are several texts in his list of imprints. In 1839 he printed 2000 copies of Jane Taylor's Girl's School Book No. 1, an elementary reader; in 1846, he printed 3000 copies 39 Munsell printed it incorrectly as "4000 copies ( ? ) " in his

Bibliotheca.

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of Howard's The Child's First Book of Reading and Drawing "; and again in 1848, 1000 copies of Sweet's Elocution, as well as another 2000 copies of Howard's opus. T h e following year he printed H. N. Robinson's A Treatise on Astronomy for secondary schools and colleges. A s in the case of many of the works he printed in large quantity, the publishers were most often the booksellers of Albany and nearby cities. In the case of Howard's book, Gates and Stedman were recorded as publishers. 40 T o be used in school or home was Thomas Smith's edition of Walker's Critical Pronouncing Dictionary printed by Munsell in 1848 and 1850. T h e attack on an earlier edition of this dictionary had greatly aroused Munsell when he was a journeyman printer in New Haven. Occasionally through the years a historical work came to Munsell's office. M a n y of the popular tales he printed for Priest and others were based on true historical incidents. The first work of any value as historical writing to come from the Munsell press was an edition of 2000 copies in 1845 of the 672-page History of Schoharie County, and the Border Wars of New York by Jeptha R. Simms. The book was published by the author and sold by him for $1.75 per copy. Munsell himself was amazed by the fact that the demand for copies of this book grew so great with the years that by the 1870's second-hand copies were selling for as high as eight dollars. Munsell must have been particularly happy that such a work came to his office, as his interest in Americana had been manifest since early days. 41 T h e very next year, Munsell printed for Simms a popular Revolutionary tale founded on fact. Henry Schoolcraft's Notes on the Iroquois; or Contributions to American History, Antiquities, and General Ethnology, had been published in New Y o r k in 1846. Munsell, w h o was attracted by the 40 Munsell, annotated Bibliotheca,

p. 33.

41 Cf. account of his publishing activities. A s early a s 1841 Munsell had printed The History of the Emigration and Settlement of Our Predecessors by W i l l i a m Gould, a single leaf of t w o octavo pages designed for insertion in the Gould family Bibles.

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interest in the subject, persuaded his friend, Erastus H. Pease, to undertake its publication in Albany. Accordingly, Munsell received an order for 1000 copies in 1847. Of this work it was that Munsell wrote in his personal copy of the Bibliotheca Munselliana, " It was the most notable book that had been published in Albany by a bookseller in many years." The same year he received an order for 250 copies of An Account of the Descendants oj John Pease. A work of similar character for Isaac Lawrence's progeny by Pease, was printed the next year as well as a genealogy of the Adam family, and Jerome B. Holgate's American Genealogy, giving the family histories of many early settlers. In 1849 appeared the Albany Annual Register for that year, a new work compiled by Munsell, containing a calendar, a travel guide, a directory of public institutions and places, and over one hundred pages of historical matter relating to the city. Munsell had persuaded the booksellers of Albany to sponsor the work so that its title page bore the names of E. H. Pease and Co., Weare C. Little and Co., James Henry, and E. H. Bender. The printing of his first county history, Schoolcraft's work, three genealogies, and an Albany directory that was more than two-thirds filled with local history, all in the course of four years, marked the beginning of a new stage in the printing career of Joel Munsell. Henceforth he was to interest himself more and more in the production of this type of work. He was straining at the bonds imposed on the printer: the necessity of waiting until matter for printing was brought to his shop. It was not to be long before Munsell was to add the printing of what he felt to be worthwhile books for his own account, in other words, to enter the publishing field. Certainly the range of work issued from the press of Joel Munsell from 1837 to 1849 w a s a broad one. Such a variety is hardly likely to come from one printshop in the twentieth century. Specialization in printing had already been well under way by the middle of the nineteenth century but only in the larger cities. With the exception of Bibles, and newspapers and

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novels of which Munsell's output was small, the products of his presses represent a cross section of the entire reading matter of his era. Of the ordinary day to day problems of Munsell, the printer, but little is known during this period. Occasionally, however, as if the veil were lifted long enough to peer into his office, some intimate detail has emerged. For example, Munsell had become proprietor of his own shop in November, 1836. In 1837, President Jackson's Specie Circular started a financial panic which precipitated the ensuing depression. Munsell's first big order that year, for 5000 copies of Priest's Anti-Universalist ran into all sorts difficulties. A s Munsell noted, The paper delivered for it was wretched, and the engravings worse. But the author could not bear delay so the work proceeded. The agents got their books just as an extraordinary money panic came on, and could not collect anything for them; hence their sureties were sued, and full six years elapsed before the business was closed up.42 Quite different was the experience with an eccentric Schoharie farmer who ordered 100 copies printed of a pamphlet containing his own peculiar theological notions. Much to Munsell's surprise, he paid for the work in specie at a time when paper money was under par. Other events of national importance seemed not to disturb the even tenor of Munsell's printing career. The slavery controversy which called forth a flood of polemical literature did not affect him except for one order in 1849 of 250 copies of a five-page leaflet entitled, Whig or Abolition? that's the question. Perhaps the uncertainty during the Mexican War resulted in Munsell's apparently poor year, 1847, when his listed imprints went down to twenty-seven only to rise to the unusual number of eighty-one the next year. 43 Even local events of significance 42 Munsell, annotated Bibliotheca, p. 7. 43 It is also possible that Munsell either omitted a considerable number of 1847 imprints or credited some of them to 1848, since he was not always accurate in listing the year of publication. Seven novels and eight small pamphlets for children swelled the 1848 total.

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to Albany business firms seem not to have touched Munsell. O n June 24, 1847, the Board of Trade of the City of Albany was organized with ninety-nine members. Although printing and bookselling were represented by Charles V a n Benthuysen and Erastus H . Pease, respectively, Munsell's name w a s not included in the roster of the ninety-nine members. 44 Regarding the size of Munsell's editions, many of his larger runs have already been mentioned. O f the hundreds of pamphlets issued, running from eight to sixty-four or seventy-two pages, the average order w a s from 100 to 500 copies, although 1000 was not unusual and school catalogues sometimes ran to 3000 copies. B y far the largest pamphlet editions were those of Webster's Almanac which, as w a s mentioned, ran from 20,000 to 40,000 annually. Of Munsell's authors, the range w a s from scientists like Emmons and Fitch, scholars like A m o s Dean, divines like Sprague, and specialists like Schoolcraft to " crackpots " who wasted their meager funds in printing their peculiar notions. Munsell in his later years took occasion to make some unflattering comments about some of the latter variety; regarding others he would note some gossipy details. H i s strictures on Priest and Newton have already been told. Regarding David Woodworth's Young Life, a Poem or the Author's own amusements, which ran to 64 pages, Munsell wrote, Mr. Wood worth was a working shoemaker who by a life of industry and economy was enabled to live in his own humble house, and had never been indiscreet until he began to write poetry, and had entered upon no unprofitable speculation until he ordered it to be printed, with a view to having it sold by peddlers. Of course, it had no sale, and lay in the garret more than 30 years, when the author and his son being dead, the widow of the latter gathered up the stock and sold it for waste. 45 44 Articles of Association of Albany, A l b a n y , 1847.

and By-laws

45 Munsell, a n n o t a t e d Bibliotheca,

p. 9.

of the Board of Trade of the

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Regarding " P r o f . " Grimes of phrenological fame, Munsell noted, " Mr. Grimes was a practical shoemaker, who got off the bench to teach phrenology. H e was successful in keeping his audience in good humor by an abundance of comical illustrations ; but he soon abandoned it for the law." 46 Regarding Thomsonian medicine, he related how, while the thirteenth edition of their Materia Medica was in the press, John Thomson suddenly came across an English work on anatomy which he forthwith incorporated into the work in place of the prepared copy, notwithstanding the fact that Thomsonians had scouted anatomy up to that time. Samuel Thomson, his father, the founder of the school, was not pleased with the innovation but the son called some of the Thomsonian practitioners to his house and got them to endorse the work " and the father was thereafter silenced." 47 Munsell's comments were not intended maliciously, as his praise w a s as freely given as his censure— it was rather that he could not resist a curious tale. That he was not without humor is seen from his remarks regarding the author of Hymns and other Sacred Pieces in Verse, Mr. Heyes was a Methodist preacher from England. He did not have money to pay for his printing and binding, and after a vain effort to sell his sacred pieces, he came to me to say that he was going back to his own country, and expressed much regret at his inability to pay his bill. He seemed to regard the apology as equivalent to cash, and having unburdened his mind, such a serenity settled upon his countenance, I did not hint that his tender was below par, and he departed in peace.48 Through the course of Munsell's career he was at various times to admit two partners into his firm. Neither of them was to leave much more record of his activities than the fact that his name was to appear for a few years on the firm's imprints 4 6 Ibid.,

p.

12.

AT Ibid.,

p.

15.

4 8 Ibid.,

p.

36.

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l6>Q

as Munsell's partner. Of the reason for their admission, of the cause of their leaving, of the contributions they made to the firm, nothing is known. A l l existing accounts of Munsell's activities ignore them. Of the hundreds of pages of manuscripts relating to the business of the firm, none written by them or mentioning them has been discovered. Munsell himself never had occasion to refer to them other than to note once the admission of the second of these partners to the firm. Certain it is that they exercised little influence in the printing career of the Munsell firm. All through the brief periods of their partnership, Munsell continued to carry on the direction of the enterprise, as his correspondence indicates. In fact, even the personal records of the lives of thesd two men are already largely lost in obscurity but for their association with Munsell. The first of the partners, John Tanner, served as one of the editors of The Gavel, the printing of which Munsell began in September, 1845. From 1844 to 1846, the imprints of the firm bore the name, Munsell and Tanner. On August 2, 1858, Munsell recorded, " Admitted John Rowland to a partnership in my office." 49 Thereafter the firm's name appeared as Munsell and Rowland until 1862. Beyond these bare facts, little if anything, has come to light.

4 9 J o e l Munsell, Journal, 1847-1878 (Albany Institute).

CHAPTER

VI

T H E MUNSELL PRESS A T ITS

HEIGHT—

1850-80 THE middle of the nineteenth century was to mark a significant change in the career of Joel Munsell. The average annual output of his press after 1850 was to be more than double that of previous years in the production of books and pamphlets. Although much of his work was to be similar in scope to that of the earlier years, Munsell's personality as a printer was to emerge clearly and unmistakably in this period. Munsell now stands revealed as the antiquarian, both in the type of work he prints and in the manner of his typography. More and more, his attention is to be focussed on the writing, editing, and printing of works relating to American history, genealogy, and the history of printing. S o keen was to be his desire to put these subjects into type that he was to undertake their printing, thus clearly establishing himself as a full-fledged publisher. A s a publisher, bookselling was now to become a major activity. From the sale of his own publications, he was to go on to the selling of the works of his fellow publishers of Americana. The style of his typography and his work as a publisher and bookseller will be dealt with in succeeding chapters. Here we shall be concerned with the further study of his career as a practical printer. T o make provision for his growing business Munsell steadily increased the amount of his equipment and personnel and expanded the floor space of his establishment. By 1850 he was employing forty to sixty people. His establishment was second in Albany only to that of Charles V a n Benthuysen, who, because he had been receiving the printing orders for the state government, was employing from 120 to 140 people. Ten Eyck and Company, which had a few years before been combined with Weed, Parsons, and Company, printers of Thurlow 170

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AT

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171

Weed's Evening Journal, ranked third with forty employees.1 The building at 58 State Street had proved inadequate for Munsell's needs and early in 1853 he moved his front office to 78 State Street. 2 The printing plant was now housed in a four story building on 21 Norton Street. The two buildings were connected by a passageway. It was important to have the office facing State Street which was then the outstanding business thoroughfare of Albany. In 1865, Munsell moved his offices into the adjoining 82 State Street while he still continued to occupy space at 78 State Street. 8 The enlargement of his offices was celebrated by a party for employees which fifty couples attended. " Music was got up in Messrs. Frost & Truax's best style, especially for the occasion. The refreshments also were served up in the best possible style." 4 The expansion of Munsell's business continued unabated even though he was undergoing severe trials in his personal life. His wife, who had long been an invalid, died in 1854, leaving him with four children. He remarried in 1856, and had six more children within the next twelve years. An inventory of the equipment in Munsell's establishment in 1850 reveals the presence of a steam engine, one Napier press, two Adams power presses, one Ruggles engine, four hand presses, and one card press.® The Napier, 8 as has been noted, was the first cylinder press to be introduced in the United States by R. Hoe and Company in 1830. The Isaac Adams press, also manufactured by this firm, was a flat bed and platen press that had been invented in Boston in 1830, im1 Munsell, Typographical

Miscellany,

2 Munsell, annotated Bibliotheca,

pp. 252, 253.

p. 57.

3 Albany directories list his office at 82 State Street after 1866. A s the directories were printed at the end of the preceding year, this change must have been made in 1865. 4 Mrs. E m m a Munsell Hevenor's Scrapbook. Unidentified clipping from an Albany newspaper dated May 26, 1867, by Mrs. Hevenor. 5 Munsell, Typographical

Miscellany,

6 T. C. Hansard, Typographia,

pp. 252, 253.

London, 1825, p. 710.

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JOEL

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p r o v e d in 1836, and finally sold t o the H o e firm. T h e R u g g l e s e n g i n e press, w i t h treadle a n d

flywheel,

had m a d e its appear-

ance in 1 8 3 9 o r 1840. T h e hand presses m a y h a v e been either the popular W a s h i n g t o n s , the P e t e r S m i t h press, devised b y a m e m b e r of the H o e firm in 1822, the S e t h A d a m s press, the W e l l s press, developed between 1 8 1 6 and 1 8 1 9 , or a c o m b i n a t i o n of these a n d one or t w o others then popular. C e r t a i n it is that a large part of M u n s e l l ' s presses had been perfected less than t w e n t y y e a r s before they f o u n d their w a y into his shop. P r i n t i n g presses h a d come a l o n g w a y since M u n s e l l ' s d a y s as a n apprentice w o r k i n g on a R a m a g e hand press. B y far the o u t s t a n d i n g fact of nineteenth century t y p o g r a p h y is the introd u c t i o n of a host of n e w , p o w e r driven m a c h i n e r y . F r o m a c r a f t that employed a f e w simple, t h o u g h skill-requiring devices, p r i n t i n g became industrialized t o an extent w h e r e

it

w o u l d be proper to speak of p r i n t i n g factories. 7 Considerable

progress

continued

t o be m a d e

in

printing

presses d u r i n g the middle of t h e century. In 1847 the firm

constructed

the chief

a

successful

innovation of

which

" Type was

Revolving

an apparatus

Hoe

Machine" to

fasten

securely the type f o r m s on a central cylinder placed in a h o r i z o n t a l position. T h e feet of the type w e r e tapered. B y careful arrangements

f o r l o c k i n g up the type on cast-iron beds,

it

could be held firmly in position. T h e first of these presses h a d f o u r s u c h r e v o l v i n g cylinders. A s m a n y as ten cylinders w e r e added t o this type of press w i t h i n the n e x t ten years. T h e use of c u r v e d stereotype plates, first used on a press f o r the N e w Y o r k Tribune

on A u g u s t 3 1 , 1 8 6 1 , did a w a y w i t h the neces-

i t y of u s i n g type f o r m s . U s i n g the same type of plates, W i l l i a m

Bullock

in

1865 produced a

stereotype

web-perfecting

c y l i n d e r press w h i c h printed on both sides f r o m a continuous roll of paper. A s M u n s e l l ' s letterheads and advertisements con7 Munsell, annotated Bibliotheca, p. 57. Munsell noted here in his own hand that he introduced steam in 1853. Since his Typographical Miscellany, printed in 1850, lists steam presses for the year, it is likely to be more accurate than a comment printed in 1872.

MUNSELL'S

PRESS

AT

ITS

HEIGHT

173

tained pictures of revolving presses, it is safe to conclude that they also were added to his establishment. In time, the Napier and Adams presses were to give way to other more improved job and book presses. In the three decades after 1850, the Gordon press, an improvement on the Ruggles press, Merrit Gally's Universal Press, and a stop-cylinder type of press introduced by R. Hoe & Company in 1853 were popular.8 Munsell, keen student of the printing art, must certainly have kept up with the newer developments. Although the precise additions to his plant are not known, as late as 1872 he was still buying new presses from R. Hoe & Co. 9 The vast variety of separate skills in the printing process tended from earliest times to divide the trade into its various specialties. A s early as the sixteenth century, Geoffrey Tory confined his work largely to making engravings and his pupil, Claude Garamond, established a type foundry for the purpose of casting types for other printers. In colonial America, however, the printer was often forced to make his own ink and build his own press. William Bradford of Philadelphia even became a partner in a paper mill. When pioneer conditions gave way to a more civilized existence, the trend to specialization reasserted itself. The rapid industrialization which took place in the nineteenth century was to intensify this tendency further. 10 However, during the transitional stages, some few printers attempted to organize their businesses vertically, that is, to complete many processes in their own plants. The enterprising Van Benthuysen firm printed the Knickerbocker in 1848 with types cast in its own foundry, on presses operated by steam power whose engines were made in its own machine 8 Lehmann-Haupt, et al., B o o k in America, pp. 70, 71, 134-137. 9 L i b r a r y Correspondence ( L o n g Island Historical S o c i e t y ) , George Hannah, December 12, 1872.

Munsell to

10 T h e r e are a f e w outstanding exceptions today of firms that e n g a g e in the many processes f r o m making the paper to completing the printed book as well as publishing and selling their works.

JOEL

174

MUNSELL

shop. 11

In addition, Munsell credits them in 1850 with possessing also a bookbindery, a stereotype foundry, and a paper mill. 12 Munsell was not to be outdone by his chief competitor. In November, 1849, he purchased the type and stereotype foundry of E. J. Stevens of Philadelphia, removed it to Albany, and retained Stevens to manage it for him. 13 A n advertisement was inserted in the public press stating, " Having added a first rate Stereotype Foundry to my establishment, orders are solicited for anything that may be required in that line." 14 Munsell prepared a circular for the printing trade in which he stated, In establishing a foundry for the purpose of casting types of my own use, I have selected such faces among the numerous founts, cut by artists of acknowledged taste and skill, as have the approval of competent judges; and have also secured the services of Mr. E. J. Stevens, whose long practice and experience are well known, with a view to the production of elegant and durable types, suited to the improved state of the art, without increasing the price.

A s for the sterotyping, Munsell offered to prepare plates for printers from type set in his shop or in their own plants. Small printing houses who received orders requiring founts and sorts not in their possession, were urged to avail themselves of Munsell's stereotyping service. Munsell also offered for sale the equipment of a recently closed print shop which had a Wells super royal and a double platen Ramage press. 15 In stereotyping, a papier-mache mold is made from the type and then metal plates are cast from this mold. The process had been brought to the United States from England some 11 Munsell, Printer's Scraps, X , 183 (Typographical Library, Columbia U n i v e r s i t y ) unidentified clipping dated April 11, 1848. 12 Munsell, Typographical 13 Munsell, Chronological

Miscellany, Record,

p. 252.

III, 53.

14 Ibid., Newspaper clipping, III, 54. 15 Munsell, Printer's Scraps, V I , 105.

MUNSELL'S

PRESS AT ITS HEIGHT

175

time between 1811 and 1813 by David Bruce. The new process first became popular for the production of books which frequently needed reprinting in large editions such as catechisms, Bibles, and text books. The obvious advantage of saving plates instead of resetting the job in type made it particularly valuable for this type of work. For general book production during the i83o's, type was still used, since, as George Palmer Putnam put it, " Then, editions of 1000 copies were the average; those of 500 copies were as usual as those exceeding 2000." By the 1860's Palmer noted, stereotyping was the general rule for the production of large run editions of the standard British and American novelists. 16 Stereotyping became the ideal solution for the newspaper press manufacturers who had been troubled by the difficulties of making type stay fast on cylinders. T o this day newspapers are printed from stereotype plates. Stereotyping as a method for book production was to be displaced eventually by the electrotype process perfected by Joseph A . Adams, a wood engraver employed by Harper's in 1841. In this process, a stronger plate was secured which did not wear out as quickly and it became possible to reproduce the then popular wood engravings which did not come out very clearly in stereotyping. 17 Munsell's experience with both of these processes was to be very limited. The average size of his editions and the fact that they were rarely reprinted did not warrant that plates be cast. In 1848, before he bought his own stereotyping equipment, he had printed Smith's edition of Walker's Dictionary from stereotype plates cast in another shop.18 As he reprinted the work in 1850, presumably he used the same plates again. The same year, when he was already in possession of his own foundry, he began to print other stereotype works. J. W . Jackson's Elements of Conic Sections, a 96 page text of which 16 George P a l m e r Putnam, " Rough Notes," in George H a v e n Putnam, Memoirs of George Palmer Putnam, N e w York, 1903, pp. 33. 17 Lehmann-Haupt, et al., Book in America, pp. 132, 133. IS Munsell, annotated Bibliotheca, p. 34.

iy6

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MUNSELL

only 600 copies were printed for the booksellers Gray and Sprague of 388 Broadway, bore on the verso of the title page the legend, " J. Munsell—Printer and Stereotyper." Four years later, Munsell printed from stereotype plates G. C. Wells' 96 page Narrative and Reflections of Justin Wells, of which 1000 copies were ordered. Unquestionably in the interim, Munsell used plates for several other works. However, he apparently found the stereotype foundry not coming up to expectations for he sold it with the type founding equipment on Nov. 10, 1854. 19 Thereafter, Munsell mentions stereotyping but once. In 1863 a new edition of Munsell's Guide to the Hudson River, first published in 1859, was printed from stereotype plates. 20 Toward the middle of the nineteenth century there were any number of small independent type foundries. A t least two existed in Albany as early as 1834: Nathan Lyman's Franklin Type Foundry (whose specimen book Stone and Munsell printed in 1835) and Henry H . Little's Albany Type and Stereotype Foundry. 2 1 A s time went on, the small foundries were either combined or forced out of business by competition so that some forty years later, despite its importance as a printing center, not a single foundry remained in Albany. V a n Benthuysen, as well as Munsell, was forced to buy type elsewhere. A s active a printer as Munsell was constantly replenishing his supply of type. 22 Besides possessing a variety of types, a well equipped printing office was required to have a goodly stock of illustrative cuts. Engravings on copper and steel had been in use since colonial days. Between 1800 and i860, significant work in the field of book illustration was done by the wood engravers 19 Munsell, Journal, 1848-1878 ( A l b a n y Institute of H i s t o r y and A r t ) . 20 Munsell, annotated Bibliotheca, 21 Albany Argus,

p. 168.

November, 1834.

22 Library Correspondence ( L o n g Island Historical S o c i e t y ) , Munsell to Hannah. N o v e m b e r 29, 1870. Munsell, in soliciting an order, points out that he had just " laid in " a n e w supply of type.

MUNSELL'S

PRESS AT ITS HEIGHT

177

and lithographers. The era was one of considerable interest in the improvement and perfecting of existing processes. Even authors like Franklin B. Hough had occasion to interest themselves in the movement as the latter notes that some time between 1846 and 1848 he, " Called on Clark the Type founder, and made with him an experiment in taking casts from wood engravings in fusible metals." 23 Concerning Munsell, we have only to note that in 1858 he issued his Specimen of Book and Job Cuts belonging to Joel Munsell, a large sized volume of sixty four pages filled with hundreds of illustrations that he kept in stock. From the nature of his business as a pamphlet and book printer, it was incumbent upon Munsell to interest himself in bookbinding. During the nineteenth century, bookbinding, which had heretofore been a handicraft using a few simple tools, became largely a mechanized operation. The changes were even more revolutionary than in printing itself. The first step came with the introduction of cloth as an inexpensive but adequate binding material in England about 1820. The earliest known cloth bound book in the United States was issued by J . and J . Harper in 1827. From earliest times, books had been bound by attaching boards to the sewn bands at the back of the book. To replace the boarding process, the casing-in method, whereby the book is sewn separately and a whole case consisting of boards and back is prepared in advance to be attached to the book by pasting it to hinges and then pasting down the endpapers, was evolved in America between 1825 and 1835. An embossing press to stamp in design and letters on the cloth was invented in England in 1832. In 1845 the first patent was granted for a backing machine to supersede the rounding and backing of books by hand. A really successful rounder and backer was the Crawley machine, first patented in 1876. In 1856, Cyrus Chambers Jr. patented a folding 23 Franklin B. Hough, Extracts from the Diaries of Franklin B. Hough, Volume dating from January 24, 1846 to March 24, 1848, p. 19 (New York State Library).

178

JOEL

MUNSELL

machine. Some time before 1880, David McConnell Smyth of Hartford, Conn, perfected a sewing machine. Automatic case making and casing-in machines and gathering machines to assemble the signatures of the book were perfected in the last decade of the century. 24 Soon after he began his career as a printer, Munsell probably hired some girls to sew together the pages of the multitude of pamphlets which issued from his presses. Even a small pamphlet required sewing as the stapling machine was unknown. Full length books were sent either to special binders or to V a n Benthuysen's bindery. Regarding one of his works, printed in 1841, William P. Davis' The Pastor's Farewell, Munsell recorded: The edition of this work was bound in full cloth, and was the first work so bound in Albany. The Harpers were doing up some of their works in muslin, in a very ordinary way, but it puzzled the binders in Van Benthuysen's establishment how to stamp the backs, the sides being plain. Moses Harper allowed the foreman to see his mode of doing it, which was by the aid of a common hand printing press.25 A s the output of his presses increased, Munsell added some bookbinding equipment so that by 1850 he added to the inventory of his shop the words "Small bindery." 26 Eventually the bindery came to occupy the top story of the building on Norton Street. Munsell's bindery never grew to any large proportions. It was maintained as a matter of convenience since work sent to other binders waited upon their pleasure for its completion. Not all the work Munsell printed was bound in his shop. A s Munsell confined himself largely to cloth bindings, orders for 2 4 Lehmann-Haupt, et al., pp. 122-125; Joseph W . Rogers, " T h e R i s e of American Edition Binding," in Lehmann-Haupt, ed., Bookbinding in America, Portland ( M a i n e ) , 1941, pp. 145-158. 25 Munsell, annotated Bibliotheca, 26 Munsell, Typographical

p. 14.

Miscellany,

p. 252.

munsell's

press

at

its

height

179

leather bindings were sent to D. L . V a n Antwerp at 72 State Street. Munsell's personal interleaved and annotated copy of his Typographical Miscellany was bound by V a n Antwerp in half morocco, 27 as was his copy of Timperley's A Dictionary of Printers and Printing. Even some of his cloth bound publications were completed in V a n Antwerp's shop. Munsell, after printing for Hough the latter's A History of St. Lawrence and Franklin Counties in 1853, had sent the volumes to V a n A n t werp to be bound in leather, in accordance with Hough's desire. When Munsell visited New Y o r k he found the booksellers shrugging their shoulders at the style of binding. " If a quantity should be put up in cloth neatly, they say they can sell them," he added. 28 Accordingly, V a n Antwerp was asked to bind some copies in cloth, and Munsell offered to help Hough in the sale of the work. 2 9 A s time went on, more and more of Munsell's productions were bound in his own shop in the various colored cloths that were then used. There are Munsell bindings in varying shades of red, green, brown, gray, and black, although green seems to have been the favorite. Limited editions or works of greater importance were bound in the morocco or imitation leather cloth. Other books were bound in fine ribbed, sand grain, bead grain and other contemporary patterned cloths. The bindery equipment never went beyond the necessary machines to do the actual binding and simple stamping operations. T o do a fine bit of stamping, such as a monogram on the cover of a book, Henry Fuss of 33 Hudson Street was called in.30 T o gild the edges of the same book, a Memorial to 27 Munsell, annotated Typographical Miscellany (American Antiquarian S o c i e t y ) . T h i s volume still has on the inside of one of its c o v e r s V a n Antwerp's label. 28 H o u g h Letter Books ( N e w York State Library), Munsell to H o u g h , April 21, 1833. 29 Ibid., September 29, 1853. 30 Bill of H e n r y Fuss t o Joel M u n s e l l , January 30, 1874, in the writer's possession.

l8o

JOEL

MUNSELL

Catherine Ann Jeremain, the services of Van Antwerp were again employed. 31 Some time between 1871 and 1874, Munsell put the bindery in charge of his son Charles, who was born on Dec. 29, i852. 3 2 The binding business was separated from the printing as Charles, who had barely passed his twenty-first birthday, was making out separate bills for binding the works his father was printing. 33 Charles Munsell continued to conduct the bindery as an independent part of his father's establishment. Separate stationary was printed bearing the heading, " Munsell's Book Bindery, 78 State Street." This building had on its front, in large block letters that filled the space between the windows from the fourth to the first floors, the legend, " Munsell's Bookbindery Blank Book Manufactory." 3 4 A s indicated by these words, Charles had begun to do work unrelated to his father's business. Not only did he rule blank books, but he solicited such jobs as the binding of Union College's files of the New York Tribune,35 According to family tradition the bindery employed two or three other men in addition to Charles and about four girls to do the sewing of pamphlets and signature books.36 Unquestionably the number varied according to the amount of business. On May 3, 1879, a l' tt; l e o v e r eight months before his death, Joel Munsell executed a formal bill of sale of the bindery to Charles. According to this document, which was duly filed in 31 Bill of D. L. Van Antwerp to Joel Munsell, January, 1874, in the writer's possession. 32 Joel Munsell to Charles Munsell, February 1, 1871. In the possession of Mrs. Harriet Munsell Muller, 120 Haven Avenue, New York City. (Charles was still at school in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, on February 1, 1871). 33Library Correspondence (Union College), Charles Munsell to Jonathan Pearson, March 9, 1876. A cut on the letterhead pictures the building at 78 State Street. 34 Ibid., August 10, 1875. 35 Munsell to Pearson, op. cit., August 10, 1875. 36 A s told to the writer by Mrs. E. M. Hevenor in 1941.

MUNSELL'S

PRESS

AT

ITS

HEIGHT

181

the County Clerk's office, Charles paid his father $500 for the equipment consisting o f : 1 ruling machine with fixtures, 1 cutting machine, 1 backing machine, 1 Cutting Sheares, finishing rolls, stamps, pallets and polishers, fonts of type, carving boards, 2 sewing benches, together with all other furniture and shelving in the bindery. T h e presence of the backing machine shows the influence of the new inventions. However, as some of the m a j o r improvements in bookbinding were not to come until the next two decades, and others such as the folding machines were still in the process of refinement, Munsell's bindery had retained to the end of his days its essential character of a small establishment, using in large measure, manual processes. From 1850 until his death in 1880, the emergence of Munsell as a printer of historical materials has already been mentioned. Nevertheless, much of the material that came to his shop continued to be of the same type as that of the wide variety mentioned in the previous chapter. Munsell continued to print the annual reports of religious associations, theological dissertations, sermons, and hymns. Such hardy perennials as the Albany County Bible Society, the Washington County Bible Society, and the Albany City Tract and Missionary Society, ordered the printing of their annual reports, the fifty-ninth, the fifty-seventh, and the thirtyfourth respectively, from Munsell in 1870. In 1851 he printed 1000 copies of R a y Palmer's Closet Honrs: or Aids to Spiritual Improvement, which ran to 301 pages. Palmer, the Pastor of the First Congregational Church of Albany, had a reputation on both sides of the Atlantic for his hymns of which, " M y faith looks up to Thee, Thou Lamb of Calvary," and " Jesus, Thou Joy of L o v i n g Hearts," were the most popular. In 1865, Munsell printed only twenty-five copies of Palmer's 195 page Hymns and Sacred Pieces, with Miscellaneous Poems, to be followed the next year by the printing of 1000 copies of his The Highest Civilisation a Result of Christianity and Christian

182

JOEL

MUNSELL

Learning; a Discourse delivered at Norwich, Conn., Nov. 14, 1865, on behalf of the Society for Promoting Collegiate and Theological Education at the West, in Connection with the Annual Meeting of the Board of Directors, a weighty matter which ran to forty-three printed pages. However, the volume of these works that came to Munsell's print shop declined perceptibly after the Civil War. Perhaps the growing industrialization of the country crowded out the interest in reading copies of sermons and theological disputations. Of reading matter in a lighter vein, Munsell continued to publish popular tales. Simm's Trappers of New York was reprinted in 1850 in an edition of 1000 copies. The murder of two young boys resulted in printing of Jacob C. Cuyler's Trial of Reuben Dunbar, a seventy-five page work of which 2000 copies were printed. A shorter account in German was printed the following year. One Aaron G. Walker, who must have fancied himself a wit, wrote an account of The Life of J erringham Cauffman, a great American Resurrectionist, or Robber of the Grave, of which 4000 copies were printed in 1853. For the younger generation there appeared in 1856, Home Sweet Home: A Holiday Gift for Children, or Recollections of my Youthful Days, by the no doubt estimable lady who signed herself " Aunt Fannie." Munsell himself was not above adding to the supply of popular balderdash. In 1854 he published anonymously 100 copies of Cases of Personal Identity, a 102 page volume containing eight tales, some dating back to the middle ages, of cases where people were mistaken for others, all gathered by Munsell himself. Belles-lettres were represented by the republication in 1852 of 1000 copies of Mrs. Manvill's Lucinda or the Mountain Mourner, a popular true story wherin the author recounts in a series of letters the tragic story of her stepdaughter who was seduced and who died after childbirth. In 1870 was printed Elias Nason's Memoir of Mrs. Susanna Rowson, with Elegant and Illustrative Extracts from her Writings in Prose and Poetry. Mrs. Rowson, one of America's earliest novelists, a predecessor of Charles Brock-

MUNSELL'S

PRESS

AT

ITS

HEIGHT

183

den Brown, had won great popularity with her Charlotte Temple, first published in 1790 and reprinted as late as 1905. 87 The drama was represented by Irving Browne's Our Best Society, a four act comedy, and the anonymous The Pattern Man, both printed in 1868. Music appeared among the various Munsell imprints in various song and hymn collections, instruction books for various instruments, and John P. Marsh's Practical Rules in Music with Tabular Illustrations in 1872. Nor was poetry neglected. The Anti-Rent Wars had moved the many-sided Henry Schoolcraft to publish his Helderbergia: an Apotheosis of the Anti-Rent War in 1855. In all justice to Schoolcraft, it must be noted that the volume was published anonymously. Of Henry H. Tator's Eureka, printed in 1856, Munsell remarked, " This fellow's brain was sadly distorted, and this was a sample of the method of his madness." 88 Of historical interest was the first complete edition of Joseph Rodman Drake and Fitz-Greene Halleck's Croakers, printed in i860 in an edition of 150 copies and The Cow Chace by M a j o r John André, the British spy in the Revolutionary W a r . T h e latter work had first appeared in 1780, the year of André's execution. Munsell reprinted it in 1866 in an edition of 130 copies. The year before, Munsell had printed Henry C. Murphy's Anthology of New Netherland, or Transactions from the Early Dutch Poets of New York, with Memoirs of their Lives. And also in 1866 appeared a very sumptuous edition of Alfred B. Street's Frontenac, a Poem of the Iroquois which ran to 324 pages in an edition of 300 copies. During the first two decades of the latter half of the century, Munsell continued also to print various textbooks. He ran the gamut from elementary school to college texts. The former were represented by the National School Book Series of which Munsell published three volumes in editions of 1000 in 1850 and the latter by John P. Norton, Professor of Analytical and 37 Vail, R. W. G., Susanna Harwell Rowson, Worcester (Mass.), 1932. 38 Munsell, Bibliotheca, p. 81.

184

JOEL

MUNSELL

Agricultural Chemistry at Yale University, who wrote his Elements of Scientific Agriculture the same year. Norton's work was published by a group of booksellers that included Erastus H. Pease in Albany, Jacob Ernst in Cincinnati, and J . H. Pease in New Haven. Munsell was probably proud to publish his uncle Hezekiah Munsell's Manual of Practical English Grammar in 1851. In 1855 and 1857 he printed different parts of Ebenezer Emmons* American Geology, an outstanding work of its day. In addition to his textbook printing, Munsell continued to print such manuals as Jacob Multer's The Farmer's Handbook and Town Officer's Guide in 1852, William R. Smith's The Jurisdiction of the Justices of Peace, arranged according to the laws of the State of Alabama, in i860, and in 1862, Robert H. McClellan's Executor's Guide. These were printed in editions of from 2000 to 2500 copies. Munsell's career in the newspaper field also continued after 1850. A group of friends of Millard Fillmore had decided in 1850 to launch a new newspaper, the Albany State Register, to enable Fillmore to get the Whig nomination for the Presidency in 1852 and to oppose the Weed and Seward faction of the party. Originally it was slated to appear on March 1, 1850, with J . C. Kneeland of Troy as publisher and printer and Jerome Fuller of Monroe, N. Y., and Alexander H. Seward of the Utica Gazette as editors.39 However, when it was finally issued on March 23, as a daily, semi-weekly, and weekly, Joel Munsell was its printer.40 Since only occasional copies of the paper have survived, it is difficult to study Munsell's relation with it. It is certain that he was no longer its printer, when on June 9, 1851, Dr. Thomas Foote of Buffalo, who spent most of his life as editor of the Buffalo Commercial Advertiser, became editor, and Jewett & Co. became the new proprietors.41 Other changes in editors and proprietor^ occurred frequently within the few years of life left to the paper. 39 Prospectus of the Albany State Register, Scraps, X, 155. 40 Munsell, Chronological 41 Ibid., I l l , p. 105.

Record

pasted into Munsell, Printer's

of Printing,

III, p. 69.

MUNSELL'S

PRESS AT ITS

HEIGHT

185

A more propitious venture at first had seemed Munsell's association with the Albany Morning Express. It had been established in September, 1847 by Alfred Stone and Edward Henly. Henly withdrew on Jan. 1, 1853 a s did its editor, Jacob C. Cuyler, who has been mentioned previously as the author of a popular account of a murder incident. J . Stanley Smith, who had served as editor of the State Register in 1852, now assumed the editorship.42 On Nov. 2 1 , 1853, the paper was purchased from Stone by Joel Munsell, Isaac Edwards, and Carlton Edwards, the last of whom assumed the post of editor.*8 Carlton Edwards was supposedly a gifted young man who had been a teacher and lawyer. Smith and David M. Barnes, who had also previously been a member of the staff, were retained. With such a combination of talent and with Munsell as printer, the announcement of the change in management was greeted with favorable comments by its leading competitors in Albany. The Evening Journal, the Argus, the Knickerbocker, the Atlas, the Evening Transcript, and the Register all gave the new firm their best wishes.44 The Knickerbocker wrote, " With Edwards and Smith and Joel Munsell, who is ' some punkins' as an antiquarian, we think the Express is bound to despatch big business." Seemingly its well-wishers had no cause for disappointment. The paper announced in an editorial after its first year as a new firm, that it had gained in business and circulation. Numerous congratulatory notes appeared in other papers.45 The Auburn American, on Sept. 10, 1854, editorialized to the effect that it was happy to learn of the fair and remunerative patronage of the Albany Express. Its pleasure derived not from the spirit of " auld lang syne " as from an 42 Ibid., Ill, pp. 69, 105, 19743 Ibid., Ill, p. 261. 44 Munsell, Printer's Scraps, X, 172, 17345 Ibid., X , 122, 1 5 1 .

l86

JOEL

MUNSELL

estimate of the character and value of the E x p r e s s under its present management. It is very ably edited; and in typographical appearance is second to no other journal printed in this State. Its uniform elegance in this respect, as well as the character of its contents, frequently remind us of the Boston Transcript, which is about the handsomest and best daily printed in the United S t a t e s . . . . M r . Munsell, who looks after the typographical appearance of the E x p r e s s , is not only a model printer, but one of the ablest and most useful members of the " art preservative of all arts " to be found in the country. Success to the A l b a n y E x p r e s s and its " C o . " 4 6 A n o t h e r n e w s p a p e r c o m m e n t e d in N o v e m b e r , 1 8 5 4 , that W e see that the A l b a n y E x p r e s s has completed its first year under its present proprietors. D u r i n g that time it has been enlarged, put in new type, its telegraphic reports doubled, its editorial department strengthened and reorganized and its independence and neutrality guaranteed by the approval of its patrons. T h i s is a year's w o r k well done, and w e are happy to learn, well repaid. Carlton E d w a r d s , Esq., enters upon his editorial w o r k con amore, W h i l e M r . Munsell, the publisher, is not only a model p r i n t e r — p r o u d of his being one of the disciples of C a x t o n — b u t has antiquarian tastes and bookish lore, which impart occasionally a quaint relish to his paper. 4 7 S h o r t l y a f t e r M u n s e l l a n d the t w o E d w a r d s t o o k

control

of the paper, it a n n o u n c e d , o n D e c . 3, 1853, that, T h i s newspaper is intended for the people and for country circulation, and besides a large amount of interesting editorial matter will contain the latest news, besides all sorts of gossip on Life, Literature, Society and Morals, and the best selections from the most interesting publications. It is one of the best and cheapest weekly newspapers published in the United States. T h e rates w e r e one dollar per y e a r . It consisted of a double sheet of s i x c o l u m n s t o w h i c h w a s added another column on 46 Ibid., X, 112, clipping from Auburn ( N . Y.) American. 47 Ibid., X, 151, unidentified clipping dated in Joel Munsell's hand.

munsell's

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187

May 22, 1854. N e w s from Europe appeared in a column headed " Four D a y s L a t e r . " A few small advertisements appeared on the second and fourth pages. Despite the reiterations in its editorial columns that it was doing well, and regardless of the plaudits of its competitors, the Express ran into difficulty. Munsell noted in his " Chronological Record of Printing " that Carlton Edwards, " a tolerable writer," was " overburdened with self esteem and vanity and deficient in money and economy." Isaac Edwards was, according to Munsell, an honest man and a good writer " but also destitute of money." W h e n they had assumed control of the paper, each of the three partners contributed $750 and notes were given for the balance as the purchase price had been $4000. Losses, if any, were to be shared equally. W h e n it became apparent that the Edwards' did not have any money to take up the notes and to continue publication, Alfred Edwards came forward to purchase Isaac's share and undertake the financial cares of the paper. Munsell was delighted by the arrangement. However, during the course of two years, he was unable to get a financial statement from Alfred Edwards and finally the announcement came forth that the business was bankrupt, a debt of $10,000 having been accumulated. Alfred Edwards, feeling that the political situation was shaping to good advantage for the sale of the paper, offered to assume all debts of the concern if Munsell relinquished his interest. A n d so, in March 1856, another of Munsell's newspaper ventures ended, this one having cost him $ 7 5 0 . " It was soon back in Munsell's hands, this time as the Albany Daily Statesman. The Express had apparently changed its name as soon as Alfred Edwards had assumed control since the first day of publication of the Statesman is given as March 18, 1856. Munsell was the publisher of the Statesman from Sept 24, 1856 to March 23, 1857. Of the fortunes of this paper even less is known. It appeared in both a daily and weekly edition, of which only a few stray issues of the latter, known as the 48 Munsell, Chronological

Record,

III, pp. 337-340.

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Weekly Statesman, have survived. The weekly edition was advertised at one dollar per year and the daily for six dollars. The January 29, 1857 issue offered as an added inducement a fifty cent per month subscription during the sessions of the State Legislature as the editor felt that since their legislative reports were very adequate, some would buy the paper for that reason alone. Like the Express, the Statesman was a four page paper of seven columns. Advertising rates per square, consisting of twelve lines or less, were fifty cents for one insertion, three dollars per month, and twenty dollars per year. A s a typical Munsell newspaper, it contained all sorts of odd tales, poetry, etc. A single issue of the weekly edition on Nov. 11, 1856 carried such assorted materials as poetry, an article entitled " Increase of the Jews," one called " Boarding School Nuisance," reprinted from the Buffalo Medical Journal, " Penal Colony in British America," from the Philadelphia North American, " City of Mexico," from the Charleston Courier, " American Enterprises " , from the Journal of Commerce, and an anecdote about Audubon, all on the first page. The second page contained an article on the influx of the Irish and their influence in politics, and a reprint from the New Y o r k Express of an article wherein a plea was made for a registry law, an honest ballot box, and amendments to the naturalization laws. The most important news, the results of the election, recounting the victory of Buchanan over Fremont and Fillmore, who had run on the American Party ticket, was reserved for page three. A bigoted editorial, in favor of the anti-Catholic American party, which had just been soundly defeated at the polls, followed. T h e fourth page was largely taken up with advertisements which included the usual ones for patent medicines. The Statesman was to be the last of Munsell's papers. The hope of printing a successful paper died slowly with Munsell for the following year, his advertisements still bore the notation, " Newspaper Printer." 49 But the day had arrived when news49 Miscellaneous Manuscripts ( N e w York Historical Society), Joseph J. Buckingham to Joel Munsell, September 3, 1858.

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paper publication was becoming more and more divorced from the work of the general printer. The vast multitude of special newspapers for the armed forces which appeared in World War I I brings into sharper focus a very different type of soldier newspaper which Munsell attempted during the Civil War. On April 10, 1863 appeared the first copy of the Albany Army Letter, " printed by Joel Munsell and for sale by all news dealers. It will contain a very full summary of all interesting local incidents, during the two weeks prior to its issue." True to its word, it recopied in chronological order the day by day local happenings culled from the six Albany daily newspapers then in existence. A whole host of items was included which ran the gamut from the proceedings of the Common Council and news of Albany's own soldiers at the front lines to accounts of fires, railroad accidents, and the public entertainments. The Albany Army Letter was printed in small type in four page editions approximately eight inches wide and eleven inches in height in a double column arrangement. " Being printed on a sheet weighing but J4 of an ounce, it can be enclosed in an ordinary letter, without extra postage," it announced. Small and unobtrusive in appearance, it was even less distinguished in its career. Munsell never mentioned it in any of his newspaper records nor in his list of imprints. Only single copies of the first three issues have survived in the collection of the Boston Public Library. Absent also from the list of Munsell imprints after 1850 are the various literary magazines which had been attempted in the previous decade. Only five periodicals came from Munsell's press in the later period, and of these three were related to his work as a printer of Americana. In 1852, the New York Teachcr, a monthly magazine of the Teachers' Association of the State of New York, commenced publication. Munsell printed that magazine from that date until 1867. The first volume, begun in 1852, ran to 392 pages in an edition of 1200 copies. Thereafter circulation increased so that the fifth volume,

igo

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f r o m October, 1855, to September, 1856, w a s printed in an edition of 7000 copies of 584 pages. Circulation declined thereafter, but never went below the 1700 copies printed in 1861. In 1862 and 1863 Munsell printed the U n i o n College m a g a zine in issues of 200 copies. T h e V e r m o n t Gazetteer,

printed

in 1862 w a s essentially a series of pamphlets on the local history of that state rather than a magazine. 5 0 In 1862, the N e w E n g l a n d Historic-Genealogical Society h a v i n g come upon evil days, Munsell undertook the publication of their Historic Genealogical

Register,

and

which he printed for three years. F r o m

July 1864 to M a y 1865, Munsell printed the Historical

Maga-

zine, then edited by John G i l m a r y Shea. A l t h o u g h after 1850 Munsell printed f e w e r religious w o r k s , popular tales and novels, textbooks, and periodical literature, he never lost his character as a general printer. H i s w o r k as a printer for v a r i o u s business firms, his printing of reports of v a r i o u s associations, and his printing of legal w o r k s , almanacs, and catalogues, were to continue indefinitely. In fact, in the latter three categories his w o r k w a s considerably augmented. H i s list of imprints g i v e s ample testimony to his continuing w o r k as a general printer. O f the printed circulars and catalogs that Munsell printed for local business houses, a few illustrations will suffice. F o r F r a n k l i n T o w n s h e n d in 1855 he printed 500 copies of a 161 page booklet entitled Pattern Machine

Shop,

List of Townshend's

Furnace

and in the same year for the T i v o l i

and

Hollow

W a r e W o r k s , a list of their products. In 1866 he printed 5000 copies of the 88 page manual of the A t l a n t i c Mutual F i r e Insurance C o m p a n y , and in 1870 a 36 page pamphlet for Clute Brothers' S t e a m E n g i n e Boiler and Machine W o r k s . In the decade of the fifties, v a r i o u s pamphlets were printed for railroads, the most f a m o u s being the printing of 580 copies of a 36 page pamphlet containing the agreement of a series of local N e w Y o r k lines for their consolidation into the N e w

York

Central S y s t e m . 50Gratz Collection (Pennsylvania Historical Society), Hiland Hall to Joel Munsell, January 30, 1866. H e reprinted the first two numbers in 1866.

munsell's

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Of his printing of reports for religious bodies, mention has already been made. Other reports were printed for fraternal, business, and public organizations. Of such nature was the printing, in 1855, of the Report of the Pittsburgh Board of Trade and the Annual Report of the Water Commissioners of the City of Newburgh in 1869. From 1849 on, Munsell printed the annual reports and other pamphlets for the Albany County Penitentiary. Occasionally through the years, reports were printed for various boards and commissions of the city of Albany. In 1861 he printed 5000 copies of a 913 page volume Laws of the State of New York passed at the Eighty-fourth Session of the Legislature. A s has been noted, however, only an insignificant fraction of New York's public printing was done in Munsell's shop. Strangely enough, from 1858 to 1861, he did a considerable amount of printing for the Territory of Nebraska, especially from 1859 to 1861 when annually he printed the journals of the Legislative Assembly and the laws it passed. The record of pamphlets and books printed for business firms and public bodies is fairly complete. However, the thousands of pages of printed material of a more ephemeral nature that Munsell must have printed for these customers is almost as unknown for this period as for the preceding one. Only an occasional scrap survives; in a few instances there is evidence of the printing of others. On March 15, 1861," John Taylor Cooper, a large Albany landholder, was billed for 100 " T o L e t " notices. Another Albany worthy, Louis D. Pilsbury, paid on Nov. 13, 1857, for two reams of letterhead stationary charged to him on Dec. 16, 1856. 62 Union College was billed on July 9, 1864 for 300 circulars.63 In 1851, the Albany Peni51 Receipt from Munsell and Rowland to John Taylor Cooper, March 15, 1861 ( N e w York State Library). 52 Receipt from Munsell to Louis D. Pilsbury, November 13, 1857. Pasted into Joel Munsell Scrapbook in possession of the estate of Mrs. Emma M. Hevenor of Albany, New York. 53 Library Correspondence Pearson, July 9, 1864.

(Union

College),

Munsell

to

Jonathan

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tentiary ordered 500 prisoner receipt blanks. 5 4 A number of circulars that Munsell printed to advertise his o w n books h a v e also survived the r a v a g e s of time. 5 5 N o doubt a substantial part of the income of the firm w a s derived f r o m the printing of circulars, letterhead stationery, business cards, checks, 5 8 a n d the many f o r m s that are the day to day occupation of

the

printer. A n o t h e r perennial source of income was the printing of legal reports. Y e a r after year, Munsell continued to turn out, in volumes a v e r a g i n g over 500 pages, Practice

Reports

in the

Supreme C o u r t and C o u r t of Appeals of the State of

New

Y o r k , reports of cases argued in the S u p r e m e C o u r t , the C o u r t of C h a n c e r y , in the C o u r t for Correction of E r r o r s , and the C o u r t of Appeals. In 1870 he printed a five volume edition of Reports Alabama.

of Decisions

in the

Supreme

Court

oj the State

of

In addition, various legal manuals for justices of the

peace and legal guides for farmers w e r e printed. In 1856, the presidential campaign proved to be a bonanza for Munsell's firm. T h r e e hundred and ten thousand copies of John C. F r e m o n t ' s Record,

a sixteen page campaign document,

were printed at Munsell's shop even though his o w n newspaper, the Statesman,

supported Fillmore for the presidency. T h e lat-

ter's speeches were reprinted to the number of 10,000 copies. A letter of Daniel D . B a r n a r d backing Fillmore ran to an edition of 10,000 copies. In all, if Munsell's figures in his theca Munselliana

Biblio-

are to be trusted, 5 7 over 600,000 copies of

54 Receipted bill from Munsell to Albany Penitentiary, October 26, 1853, in the possession of the author. 55 Circulars for H o u g h ' s IVashingtoniana. 1865, a list of books published in 1868, and a prospectus for his Historical Series. ( I n the possession of the author.) 56 Munsell t o Albany Penitentiary, op. cit., which contains a notice that Munsell prints " books, check, circulars, blanks, etc." In possession of the author. 57 Munsell was generally accurate in his figures but there is evidence of occasional discrepancies. H i s Bibliotheca mentions that he printed 200 copies of Richard de Bury's Philobiblion on large paper and 30 on small

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campaign literature, generally four to sixteen pages in length, came from his presses that year. Of Munsell's annual printing of Webster's Calendar, mention has already been made. In the course of his career he also received orders to print almanacs for Chenango County, Troy, Rochester, and Berkshire County, Massachusetts. Munsell's Albany Annual Register, already noted as having been begun in 1849, was continued for another year. Thereafter, from 1851 through 1865, Munsell printed and published the Albany Directory. In an era when telephone books were unknown, the Directory was an important guide for local businessmen and residents. After selling the publication rights, Munsell continued to print the Albany Directory, in addition to the Troy Directory, from 1857 to 1864. Editions ranged from 750 to 2000 copies. Occasionally other directories, such as that of Roxbury, Massachusetts; Washington and Georgetown ; and the New York State Business Directory, all printed in 1864, were issued from his shop. Much has already been said about Munsell's career as a pamphlet printer. Still another type of pamphlet printing deserves mention. In his relation with schools, colleges, and religious institutions, Munsell received frequent orders for catalogues of the contents of libraries. Thereafter, as his personal collection of books grew, he also printed catalogues of the books in his possession that he offered for sale. His years of experience as a printer of book catalogues drew the attention of professional booksellers so that after 1850, another of Munsell's pamphlet specialties became the printing of booksellers' catalogues. The list of his customers included some of the most famous names in the annals of the trade, especially the dealers in Americana. His earlier customers were local Albany firms such as Little and Company. In 1856 he began a long associpaper, whereas a letter of his dated August 21, 1861, which is tipped into the Cornell University copy of Philobiblion notes that only 210 copies were printed since there were too many damaged sheets to complete the intended 230 copies.

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ation with William Gowans of N e w Y o r k , which lasted until the latter's death. Gowan's disciple, E . W . Nash, continued to have his catalogues printed in Munsell's shop through the 1870's. J. W . Bouton and Company and Bangs, Merwin and Company, both of N e w Y o r k , were steady customers. Leonard and Company of Boston; W h i t e , Pfister and Company of Montgomery, A l a b a m a ; and George P . Philes of N e w Y o r k , occasionally patronized Munsell. Samuel G. Drake, of Boston, historian and bookseller, became a regular patron in the i86o's. And, more famous than all of these, Joseph Sabin, compiler of the Dictionary of Books relating to America, became a regular patron of Munsell in 1867. S o close did their relationship become that in 1868 Munsell printed for Sabin a special catalogue entitled Recent Publications of J. Munsell, for Sale by J. Sabin and Sons. O n April 26, 1877, Munsell wrote to Nash that he was printing three large catalogues for Sabin, one for Bangs, and one for Nash himself.®8 Occasionally a catalogue was confined to the collection of a single individual. Such was the printing in 1866 of a catalogue of the books of John Gilmary Shea, the historian, and in 1875 the printing for Sabin of the 471 page catalogue of the library of William Menzies, the prominent collector. It was inevitable that a printer like Munsell, w h o was so much interested in his own art, should devote some of his attention to the printing of works of special interest to the followers of his craft. Of the printing of his own and other works related to the graphic arts, more will be said in later chapters. It is enough to say at this point that the Printer's Circular, a contemporary trade journal, referred to him as " the most extensive publisher in this country of works relating thereto [art of printing]." 69 Included among the works he printed in this field were the memoirs of people prominent in the world of books and the first American edition of a famous fourteenth 58 Miscellaneous Manuscripts (New York Public Library), Munsell to E. W. Nash, April 26, 1877. 59 Printer's

Circular, August, 1869.

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195

century work on book lore. Also noteworthy were Munsell's efforts in the production of facsimile editions of older works. A s interest in family history became more widespread during the latter half of the nineteenth century, the printing of genealogies received considerable impetus. Munsell, who had already done some work in this field before 1850, was to add this highly specialized branch of printing to his establishment. Not that the printing of a genealogy required any particular skill on the part of the printer, but since the field was of limited interest, few printers made a specialty of this type of work. Between i860 and 1870, Munsell's Bibliotheca lists some thirty family histories. During the following decade, the interest of the firm in this type of publication continued markedly. Perhaps even more indicative of Munsell's leadership in the field of genealogy than the number of his productions, was the printing of two of the leading bibliographical works on genealogy. In 1862, Munsell's firm issued 200 copies of William H. Whitmore's A Handbook of American Genealogy; being a Catalogue of Family Histories and Publications containing Genealogical Information, chronologically arranged. An enlarged edition of the same work was again printed in 1868. The same year saw the first printing of Daniel Steele Durrie's Bibliographia Genealogica Americana: an Alphabetical Index to American Genealogies and Pedigrees contained in State, County and Town Histories, Printed Genealogies and Kindred Works. Durrie was a prominent writer of genealogies, several of whose works Munsell had previously printed. A second edition of the Bibliographia Genealogica was printed by Munsell in 1878. The publication of this work was destined to remain in the hands of the Munsell family long after the deaths of Munsell and his sons for as late as 1933 a supplement appeared through the efforts of a grandson of Munsell. The decades after 1850 saw a growing interest not only in family histories but also in local history and the entire field of American lore. The works of Bancroft and Parkman sold in the thousands of copies. All kinds of town histories, colonial

196

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records, military accounts, stories of the settlement of the country, and personal memoirs found their way into print. T h e publication of these works was undertaken in many ways. Often the author himself paid for the printing and hoped to defray the costs by his own efforts as a bookseller or with the aid of the printer and commercial bookstores. Occasionally booksellers like Sabin and Gowans ventured to publish a few works. Scholars like J o h n Gilmary Shea and bookseller-authors like Samuel G. Drake acted as publishers for works they edited. Historical societies and clubs of booklovers also undertook the responsibility for having many works printed. Of Munsell's own share in promoting the publication of Americana, there will be further discussion in a later chapter. Hundreds of volumes dealing with the early history of the United States, sponsored variously by all the types of individuals and organizations mentioned, rolled off the presses of the Munsell firm between 1 8 5 0 and 1880. In the following pages an attempt will be made to delineate some of the principal categories of these works that he printed. T h e mere fact that so many differing groups sought his print shop for their historical works, is alone testimony that his firm provided a congenial atmosphere for their production. When, in addition, we add the fact that he was actively responsible for getting historical literature into print, Munsell's contribution to the field of Americana bulks large. It came naturally to Munsell, a man of antiquarian interests, to concern himself with local history, especially of the city in which he resided. A s has already been noted, when he took over the publication of Webster's Calendar, he began to include odd bits of historical information, many of them related to Albany proper. T h e Albany Annual Register for 1849 a n d 1 8 5 0 contained a good deal of local history. Finally in 1 8 5 0 Munsell began the printing of the first of what were to be his ten volumes of the Annals of Albany. These were followed by four volumes of Collections of the History of Albany with Munsell again as author, printer, and publisher. In 1 8 5 1 Mun-

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sell printed 300 copies of a twenty-five page pamphlet by W i l liam Barnes entitled The Settlement and Early History of Albany. This was followed by Gorham A . Worth's Random Recollections of Albany, the third edition of which he printed in 1866, and Jonathan A . Pearson's Early Records of the County and City of Albany in 1868. Munsell also did not neglect his birthplace in his list of imprints. In 1875 he printed Sheldon and Temple's History of the Town of Northfield, Massachusetts to be followed the next year by a pamphlet of his own authorship, Reminiscences of Men and Things in Northfield as I Knew Them from 1812 to 1825. Even his father's birthplace was represented in his list by Stiles' The History of Ancient Windsor, printed in 1859. T o w n history was not the only form of history popular at that time. Places that had been settled more recently than colonial days, or where older individual towns lacked distinctive "history " of their own, could nevertheless boast of county history. In 1853 Munsell printed Franklin B. Hough's A History of St. Lawrence and Franklin Counties, a 7 1 9 page work which ran to 1500 copies. This work, and Hough's A History of Jefferson County, which appeared the following year, came to be considered by contemporaries as model county historical writing. In 1856 Nathaniel S. Benton's A History of Herkimer County was printed. A s Munsell began more and more to underwrite the publication of historical works, he began to list them in separate categories. Eventually twelve of his publications were known and sold under the title of Munsell's Series of Local American History. Worth's work on Albany became the third number in the series. Strangely enough, the outstanding works in the series were not, strictly speaking, local history at all. A m o n g these were Madame Riedesel's Letters and Journals Relating to the IVar of the American Revolution. Madame Riedesel, whose husband commanded the Hessian troops at the Battle of Saratoga, had written a vivid account of her experiences when accompanying her husband. These accounts, when translated

198

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MUNSELL

from the German by William L . Stone, formed volume six of the series. In 1868, Munsell printed, as volumes eight and nine of the series, Stone's translation of M a x von Eelking's t w o volume edition of The Memoirs, Letters and Journals of M a j o r General Riedesel himself. T h e series was resumed in 1876 with the publication of Anne Grant's Memoir of an American Lady, an account of life in Albany in Revolutionary days. Edward D. Neill's The Founders of Maryland was the only work on Southern history in the series. Not a part of the series, but yet worthy of mention was Henry R. Stiles' three volume A History of the City of Brooklyn printed from 1867 to 1870, a work still highly regarded. T o w n and county history was but a small although significant portion of the historical works that came from the Munsell presses. T h e interest in history manifested during this period led to the rediscovery of a vast number of official documents and contemporary accounts of the period from the discovery of America to the Revolutionary W a r . Students of American history concerned themselves with the task of getting these materials into print. A s yet, they were widely scattered and in danger of disappearance. Historians like Bancroft, Parkman, and Prescott had to undergo almost insuperable difficulties in going to original sources. They spent considerable sums in purchasing and copying manuscripts. In addition, there was need for monographic studies. Munsell decided to use his print shop to help fill both of these needs. O n his own initiative, Munsell began, in 1859, the publication of a series of documents that had never before been put into print. T h e first of these, Commissary Wilson's Orderly Book; Expedition of the British and Provincial Army under Maj. Gen. Jeffry Amherst, against Ticonderoga and Crown Point, 1759, was edited with notes by Dr. E . B. O'Callaghan. Munsell, having purchased a collection of Revolutionary A r m y orderly books, now chose some of the more significant ones for inclusion in Munsell's Historical Series. Gen. Anthony Wayne's Orderly Book of the Northern Army at Ticonderoga

MUNSELL'S

PRESS AT ITS HEIGHT

199

an
53. 157. 188-189; Albany Daily Advertiser, 73; Albany Minerva, 67-70, 71, 73, 76; Albany Mirror, 152 n . 1 9 ; Antidote, 6 3 , 7 5 ; Argus, Albany, 103, Il8n., 120, 124, 185, 210, 3 3 5 ; Army Letter, Albany, 189, 2 3 2 ; Atlas, Albany, 185, 335 ; Bee, The, Albany, 362363, 371 ; Boston Courier, 86, 329, 331 ; Boston Gazette and Country Journal, 46; Boston Recorder, 56; Bower of Taste, The, Boston, 69; Christian Register, Albany, 67. 73, 75 ; Christian Secretary, Hartford, 89; Chronicle, Albany, 73, 79. 82, 83, 86 ; Columbian Register, New H a v e n , 92, 93, 1 2 0 ; Commercial Advertiser, Buffalo, 184; Commercial Advertiser, N e w York, 2 2 3 ; Courant, H a r t f o r d . 27, 28; Courier, Charleston. 188 ; Courier, N e w York, 48; Daily Statesman, Albany, 187-188. 1 9 2 ; Daily Troy Sentinel, 95, 96 ; Enquirer, New York, 48; Evening Journal,

INDEX Albany, 103, 112, 120, 122, 124, 171. 185, 210; Evening Transcript, Albany, 185 ; Express, Albany, N e w York, 335. 336 ; Express, 188; Franklin Herald, 46; Franklin Herald and Public Advertiser, 46, 47, 56 ; Franklin Post and Christian Freeman, 42, 44, 48, 49, 50, 52. 53, 55, 56, 57. 74, 109, 248, 252; Gazette, Albany ( R o b e r t s o n ) , 102; Gazette, Albany ( W e b s t e r ) , 102, 103, 120; Gazette, Cincinnati, 54; Gazette, Greenfield, Mass. ( I ) , 46, 47, 86; Gazette, Greenfield, Mass. ( I I ) , 47; Gazette, N e w Harmony, Ind., 59, 73, 75, 85; Gazette, N e w York, 54; Gazette, Scioto, Ohio, 153 ; Gazette, Utica, N. Y., 184; Gazette and Franklin County Advertiser, Greenfield, Mass.. 47, 55, 56, 57, 64; Gazette and Franklin Herald, Greenfield, Mass., 47 ; Gazetteer or Northern Intelligencer, Albany, 102; Gem, Rochester, 87 n.19; Hartford Daily Journal, 153; Impartial Intelligencer, Greenfield, 45, 46; Irishman, The, Albany, 157; Journal 0} Commerce, New York, 188; Knickerbocker, Albany, 173, 185, 223; Literary Gazette, London, 56, 244; Masonic Record, Albany, 67, 68, 70-71, 73, 74, 76, 79, 88; Messenger, Albany, 335 ; Minerva, New York, 68 ; Microsome, Albany, 66-67, 120, 121, 139, 140, 222, 239, 269, 327; Mirror, H a r t f o r d , 89; Mirror, London, 55 ; Moralist, 73 ; Morning Chronicle, Albany, 79, 86; Morning Express, Albany, 185-187, 188; National Era, W a s h ington, D. C., 328; National Observer, Albany, 66, 103 ; New England Galaxy, The, Boston, 73, 86, 109, 248; Neic York Evening Post, 45, 46 n.5, 54; New York Times, 62, 336 ; North American, Philadelphia, 188; Northern Star end Freeman's Advocate. Albany, 157; Orleans County American, Medina, N. Y., 87 n.20; Plain Dealer, Albany, 152; Register, Albany, 103, 185 ; Republican, Dover. N. H., 54 ; Statesman, New York, 244 ; Switch, Albany, 223 ; Talisman, The, 73 ; Temperance Recorder, Albany, 139; Times, Unadilla, N . Y., 222;

417

Transcript, Boston, 186; Traveller, Boston, 6 2 ; Traveller, Greenfield, 46; Trenton Emporium, 68; Tribune, N e w York, 172, 180; Unionist, Albany, 152, 157, 223; Weekly Register, Baltimore, 244, 327; Weekly Statesman, see Daily Statesman Newton, Curtis M., author, 150, 151, 167; Rev. Roger, minister in Greenfield ( M a s s . ) , 76n.; Roger, Joel's friend, 76, 82, 83, 88, 118 Niles, Hezekiah, publisher, 244, 327 Northfield ( M a s s . ) , Academy of Useful Knowledge, 4 1 ; development, 30-32, 35, 39, 59, 60, 197; museum, 3 3 ; Seminary, 31 n.26; Social Library, 35-36, 4«. 42, 331 (see also Dickinson Memorial Library) Northampton, Mass., 48, 52 Northwest Ordinance, 101 Norton, John P., Yale scientist, 183184 Null's Fishery, 344 Numismatic and Antiquarian Society of Philadelphia, 347, 349, 384 O O'Callaghan, Dr. E . B., historian, 198-199, 205, 214, 277, 288, 293, 301, 302, 316, 321, 333, 339 Odd Fellows lodges, 155 Ohio State Library, 324 Olcott, Theodore, Albany banker, 211, 2 1 2 ; T h o m a s W., Albany banker, 163, 212 Old Dutch Church, Albany, 343 Oneida Historical Society, 348, 350 Osborne, A., magazine editor, 156 Ovid, 72 Owen, Robert ( f a t h e r ) , 58, 6 1 ; Robert Dale ( s o n ) , 58 Oxwiche Manor, England, 23 P a c k a r d , Alpheus Spring, 349 Packard and Van Benthuysen, Albany printers, 94, 95, 139 Paine, Edward, General, 34; N a t h aniel, treasurer, American Antiquarian Society, 262, 379; Thomas, reformer, 56-57, 58-59, 60. 61, 327 Palmer, Rev. Ray, hymn writer, 181 Papermaking. 136, 137, 254-257 P a r k m a n , Francis, historian, 195, 198, 205. 292, 320, 321, 345

INDEX Parks, William, Colonial printer, 268 Passy, France, 269 Pearson, Jonathan, Union College, 213, 22¿n., 226, 233-234, 272, 281, 296, 298, 302, 337, 338, 339, 344

Pease, Erastus H., Albany bookdealer and publisher, 155, 162,

S

, 167, 184, 209, 210, 285, 312,

, 373; J- H., New Haven bookseller and publisher, 184 Pennsylvania, Historical Society of, see Historical Society of Pennsylvania Phelps, Ansel, publisher, 4611., 47; Richard H., 205, 215, 295, 307, 310 Philadelphia, 173 Philes, George P., New York bookseller, 194, 305 Philip, see King Philip's W a r Phillips, Elise Olcott, 211; Henry, Jr., 302, 350 Pickering, William, publisher, 275, 276

Pierce and Scopes, Albany bookdealers, I27n. Pilsbury, Amos, 295 Pinks, Samuel H., printer and publisher, 42, 48 Pintard, John, 340n. Pitcher, Governor of New York, 77 Pittsburgh, 191 Plantin, Christopher, printer, 268 Platen press, 171 Plato, 72 Pohlman, Rev. Dr., 360 Pomeroy, William, 32 Poole, W. F., librarian, 276 Prescott, William Hickling, historian, 198, 205, 320 Press Association Free, 61, 84 Priest, Josiah, Albany author, 135, 148-149, 164, 166, 167

Printers and printing, conditions and customs in U. S., 43, 44, 50, 103104,

141-142, 212-234;

panic

of

1873, 233; women printers, 222; annual almanacs, 157-158; cost of, in nineteenth century, 228-232; development, 136-139, 172, 173, 174-175. 176, 239; early nineteenth century, 273; romantic period, 274, 275; sermons and eulogies, 145146; subsidiaries, 220; textbooks, 163

Printing presses, Adams, Isaac, 138, 171, Seth, 138, 172; Blaeu, 136; Bullock, 172; Church, 139;

Clymer, 138; Gaily Universal, 173; Gordon, 173; Hoe, 172; Konig, 138; Napier, 139, 171, 173; Ramage, 46, 48, 137-138, 139. 172, 174, 237, 241; Ruggles, 171, 172, 173; Rust, 138; Stanhope, 136,137 ; Smith, Peter, 138; Treadwell, 138, 139; Washington, 138, 139, 172; Wells, 172, 174

Prior, J. N., 38, 89 Proyn, John V. L., 276, 288, 289, 290, 321. 351 Publishers, small towns, 284 Putnam, A., bookdealer, 310; George Palmer, 175, 284, 310 Queen Anne's War, 30 Queen Elizabeth, 23 Quinsigamond Pond, see Worcester, Mass. R Rawson, A., Greenfield publisher, 88, 89

Reaumur, Rene Antoine de, 254 Reformed Protestant Dutch Church, Albany, 343 Rehoboth, Mass., 34 Rensselaer, N. Y., 387 Republican party, 48, 102-103 Revolutionary War, 21, 26-27, 28, 30, 3in., 34, 102, 114, 198, 206, 264, 295; Orderly Books, 198-199 Richards, Albany publisher, 79 Richardson, C. B., bookdealer, 310 Richmond, Va., 370 Riedesel, General, 17, 197-198 Riverside Press, 17, see also, Houghton, H. C. Robert, Nicholas Louis, see papermaking Robertson, Alexander and James, 102, 263

Robinson, James Harvey, historian, 7 Rose, A., bookdealer, 310 Rowland, John, Albany printer, 168169, 381

Rowson, Susanna, early American novelist, 182-183, 3°2 Russo-Turkish war, 75 Rutgers College, 382 Ruttenber, E. M., author, 214, 223, 292, 299, 301

INDEX Sabin, Joseph, bookdealer, 194, 196, 282, 294, 304, 311 St. Francis R. C. Church, East Windsor, Conn., 29 St. Peter's Church, Albany, 343 Salisbury, Stephen, 276 Saratoga, Battle of, 197; Springs, 370

Sargent, Winthrop, historian, 292, 293, 321 Saxton, Jonathan A., Greenfield editor, 42, 47, 48, 51, 57 Scantic Cemetery, 26, parish, 25 Schenectady, N. Y., 101, 102, 115 Schlesinger, Arthur M., 7 Schoolcraft, Henry Rowe, author, 151-152, 164-165, 167, 183, 269, 270, 285, 287, 312, 318, 334 Schuyler family, 345 Scopes, Frank, Albany bookdealer, 264n., John A., Albany bookdealer, 96n., 264n. Scott, Sir Walter, 69 Scribner, Armstrong & Co., 310; Charles, 151 Seward, Alexander H., editor, 184; William Henry, 184 Seymour, William, 121 Shakespeare, 72 Shea, John Gilmary, historian, 190, 194, 196, 201, 202-204, 216, 278, 303, 313. 321 Sheldon, George, 307, 331 Sibley, John Langdon, 309 Simms, Jephtha R., author, 164, 182, 318; William Gilmore, historian, 201 Simsbury, Conn., 295 Singleton, Arthur, pen name for Rev. H. C. Knight, 108-no, i n Slavery, see Negro question Sluyter, Peter, Dutch traveller in Colonial America, 200, 333, 353 Smith, Charles A., Albany editor, 155; J- Stanley, Albany editor, 185; Thomas, 164; William, historian, 100 Society of Useful Knowledge, 330 Socrates, 154, 327 Soldier newspapers, see newspapers, Army Letter South N'onvalk, Conn., 388 Soto. Hernando de, 201 Southey, Robert, noet, 55 Southwick. Solomon, Albany printer, 66, 103

419

Spencer, Ambrose, New York Chief Justice, 146; John C., 146 Sprague and Company, Albany bookdealers, 162; J. Dwight, publisher, 154; Rev. William B., 95, 145. 147. ISI. 155-156, 208, 209. 240 Squier, E. G., publisher, 153, 204, 295. 307 Squakheag, see Northfield, Mass. Stael, Mme. de, 72 Stebbins genealogy, 2in. Steiger, E., bookdealer, 310 Stereotyping, development, 174-175 Stevens, E. J., Philadelphia, type foundry, 174 Stewart, John G., Albany, newspaper editor, 157 Stiles, Ezra, Harvard president, 27; family, 27, 28, 29; Dr. Henry R., historian, 197, 198, 227, 316, 331, 353 Stone, Alfred, Albany publisher, 185; and Munsell, 174; Henry D., Albany publisher, 123-124, 140; William L., 214, 305, 381, 382, 386 Syracuse, N. Y., 371 Tammany Hall, 203 Tanner, John, Albany magazine editor, 155, 156, 168-169 Taylor, William, 310 Temple, Josiah H., 307, 331 Ten Eyck and Company, Albany, printers, 170 Texas, Annexation of, 210 Thomas, Isaiah, American printer, 46, 57. 74. 94, 157, 159. 217-219, 225, 231, 239, 240, 247, 249, 264, 268, 271, 325, 346n.t 353, 379 Thompson, Francis Nims, 33n. Thomson, John, 163, 168; Samuel, 163, 168 Ticknor and Fields, Boston, 97 Timperley, C. H., 46n., 86, 179 Tonna, Charlotte Elizabeth, British author, 150-151 Took's Court, 275 Tory, Geoffry, engraver, 173 Travel in Colonial days, 202 Treadway, see Baldwin Trevithick, Richard, inventor, 138 Trinity Church, Albany, 373 Troy, N. Y., 82, 95-97, 114, 115, 184, 193; Conference Academy, Poultney, Vt., 148

420

INDEX

Trubner (Nicholas) and Co., London, bookdealers, 276, 310 Tuscaloosa, Ala., 365 Tyler, publisher, 47 U Ulster Historical Society, 353 Union College, Schenectady, N. Y., 116, 180, 192, 213, 226, 229, 230, 231, 2 3 3 , 281, 297, 298, 337 Updike, Daniel B., 239, 277n. V Valette, Marc F., historian, 203 n.6l Van Antwerp, D. L., Albany bookbinder, 179, 180, 220, 223 Van Benthuysen, Charles, Albany printer and bookbinder, 88, 89, 167, 170, 173-174, 176, 178, 373, 383 Van Buren, Martin, 85 Van der Linde, Dr., 242 Van Laer, A. J . F., 296 Van Rensselaer, Stephen, 149, 34m. Van Schaack, Henry C., 353 Van Steenbergh, Albany printer, 83, 88 Van Wormer, Jasper, 375, 381, 384 Vermont Historical Society, 347, 349, 353 Virginia Company of London, 24, 200; Kings Council of, 24 Volney, Constantin Francois Chasseboeuf, Comte de, 58, 60 Voltaire, 61 W Wait, Thomas G., Albany printer, 140 Wales, George W., 272 Walker, S., Boston publisher, 9m., 164 Wallace, John W., 260, 353 W a r of 1812, 35, 205 Ward, Townsend, 293, 351 Warwick, Mass., 40, 41 Washburn, Owen R., Collection, see Dickinson Memorial Library Washington, D. C., 48, 310, 327, 328 ; George, 71, 72, 149 Watson, Winslow C., 296, 300, 301 Watts, Divine, 98 Weed, Parsons and Company, Albany printers, 151, 170; Thurlow, printer and politician, 103, 151, 184, 241, 250

Weems, Mason Locke ( P a r s o n ) , 149 Western Reserve Historical Society, 348, 350 Wesleyan University, 145 Western Reserve Medical College, 297 Wheatland, Dr. Henry, 314, 351 W h i g politics in Albany, 103, 112, 152, 166, 184, 188 Whitcomb, printer, 50-51, 74, 83-84 White, Pfister and Co., Montgomery, Ala., bookdealers, 194; Stewart Edward, novelist, 369 Whiting, New Haven printer, 90 Whitmore, William H., genealogist, 21, 266, 388 Whittingham, Charles, printer, 275 Wigglesworth, Michael. 301 Wilder, New York, publisher, 55 Willemstadt, see Albany, development William the Conqueror, 23 Williams, Rev. Eleazer, 294 Windsor, Conn., 23, 25, 27, 28, 29, 34, 89, 90, 92, 93, 105, 115, 119, 371, 372; history. 197 Winsor, Justin, librarian and historian, 237, 265, 276, 317 Winthrop, John, governor of Massachusetts, 216 Wisconsin, State Historical Society of, 308, 347, 349, 360, 351- 354 Wise, Rabbi Isaac M., 206 Wood, B. and J. S., Albany publishers, 154 Woodward, W . Eliot, 2S0 Woodworth, David, 167; Judge John, 295 Worcester, Mass., 30. 46, 57. 264. 372 Worth, Graham A.. 100-101, 296 Wright, Frances. 58, 61 Wroth, Lawrence Dr., historian, 316, 318 Y Yale, Cyrus, printer, 263 Yale University, 27, 28, 40-41 Young, John, governor of New York, 87n. Young Mechanics' Institute, New Haven. Conn., 90-91, 1 1 2 Z Zeiber, G. B., bookdealer, 310