The Jerman Almanac
Franklin's earliest surviving almanac, 1731 — the only known copy in private hands.
In the autumn of 1730, two years before Poor Richard, Franklin and Meredith printed an almanac for a Chester County schoolmaster and astrologer named John Jerman. It is the earliest almanac from Franklin's press that survives, and it began the trade that would be the steadiest income of the house for forty years.
Every other copy is in an institution. Woodcut borders; title silked; in full antique calf with slipcase and chemise. Miller 21.
Cat.
John Jerman | The American Almanack ... for 1731 — the only known copy in private hands
Philadelphia: Printed and Sold by B. Franklin and H. Meredith, [1730]
The earliest surviving almanac printed by Franklin, and the only known copy in private hands.3 John Jerman, a Chester County schoolmaster and astrologer, gave Franklin the almanac trade two years before Poor Richard. Woodcut borders; title silked; full antique calf in slipcase and chemise.
References Miller 21; ESTC W9241; Evans 3292; Hildeburn 403; Drake 9544