Charter, Laws, and Catalog of Book of the Library Company of Philadelphia
The Charter, Laws, and Catalogue of Books, of the Library Company of Philadelphia. Phila.:
Printed by B. Franklin and D. Hall, 1764. 26,150pp.
An important early American library catalogue, the 1764 catalogue of the Library Company of
Philadelphia, printed by Benjamin Franklin and David Hall when they were business partners.
Franklin was founder of the Library Company and the person most responsible for its contents. At the time, this was probably the most extensive library in colonial British America. Books are organized in the catalogue by size (e.g. folio, quarto, octavo and duodecimo). Following each section are several blank leaves, apparently provided for library additions.
Rare. Miller and WorldCat locate over 20 copies but The last copies coming to auction were in 1976, 1934, and 1919.
From Catalog III
The printed constitution and shelf-list of the institution Franklin called 'the Mother of all the North American Subscription Libraries.' The catalogue is a portrait of what fifty Philadelphia tradesmen thought worth reading in the 1740s; the Company still exists, and still holds much of what is listed here.
Date
Philadelphia: Printed by B. Franklin
Author / maker
Library Company of Philadelphia
Condition
26,150pp. 3/4 leather and
marbled boards, in a leather backed cloth folding box. Very
good.
References
Evans 9794. Campbell 693. Hildeburn 1964. Miller 810. From an edition limited to 400 copies.
Cite this object as“Charter, Laws, and Catalog of Book of the Library Company of Philadelphia.” The Soiferman Collection, Wynnewood, Pennsylvania. EIS LIBRIS, https://eislibris.com/objects/charter-laws-and-catalog-of-book-of-the-library-company-of-philadelphia (accessed [date]).
