Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, volume three

Philadelphia: Printed and sold by Robert Aitken & Son, 1793. First edition.

Franklin contributes his theories on the formation of the earth, essays on light, heat and magnetism, and a note on paper manufacture in China. Around them are William Barton on the population of America, Benjamin Rush on the sugar maple, Benjamin Smith Barton on the rattlesnake and the honey bee, Henry Muhlenberg on the plants of Lancaster County, mathematical and astronomical papers by David Rittenhouse, Jonathan Williams on navigation with a chart of the Atlantic, and Francis Hopkinson on music. The volume closes with John Cooke's letter to Thomas Jefferson on a uniform system of weights and measures.

The title page is dated 1793, the year of the fever, and this copy carries the early signature of James Underwood.

Quarto, xl, 292, [2], 293-368 [i.e. 370] pages, with six engraved folding plates. Contemporary calf, the spine ruled in gilt with a red morocco lettering piece. Foxing. Provenance: James Underwood (early signature); Jay Snider (booklabel).

References: Evans 25103. Rink 5. ESTC W15745. Wheat and Brun 724.

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