LOT Old Heritage Auctions  /  2007 Apr Books, Manuscripts & Autographs #658  / 

25043

1740 Benjamin Franklin Pennsylvania Gazette

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Paper Start Price:1,250.00 USD Estimated At:5,000.00 - 6,000.00 USD
1740 Benjamin Franklin Pennsylvania Gazette
<B>1740 Benjamin Franklin <I>Pennsylvania Gazette</B></I>,</B></I> four pages, 7" x 9.5" visible, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, April 17, 1740, Number 592. Matted and ornately framed under glass on both sides to 20" x 15"; pages one and four are displayed on one side, two and three on the other. An original copy of the historic newspaper printed by Benjamin Franklin on his famous Philadelphia press. Printed at the bottom of the fourth page: "Philadelphia: Printed by B. Franklin. Post-Master,/at the New Printing-Office near the Market. Price 10 s. a Year./Where Advertisements are taken in, and Book-Binding is done reasonably, in the best Manner." The vignette atop page one has a lion above a coat of arms with the legend "Mercy" and "Justice." <I>"The Pennsylvania"</B></I> is to the left and <I>"Gazette"</B></I> is to the right. The line beneath the newspaper's title is: "Containing the freshest Advices Foreign and Domestick." Each page is divided into two columns. "A letter from the Rev. Mr. George Whitefield, to the Inhabitants of Maryland, Virginia, North and South-Carolina," written from "Savannah, Jan. 23, 1739,40," takes up the entire first page and 1.5 columns on the second page. In part, "As I lately passed through your Provinces, in my Way hither, I was sensibly touched with a Fellow-feeling of the Miseries of the poor Negroes…I must inform you, in the Meekness and Gentleness of Christ, that I think God has a Quarrel with you for your Abuse of and Cruelty to the poor Negroes…Your Dogs are caress'd and fondled at your Tables --- But your Slaves, who are frequently stiled Dogs or Beasts, have not an equal Privilege. They are scarce permitted to pick up the Crumbs which fall from their Master's Tables: Nay, some, as I have been informed by an Eye-Witness, have been, upon the most trifling Provocation, cut with Knives, and had Forks throw into their Flesh --- Not to mention what Numbers have been given up to the inhuman Usage of cruel Task-Masters, who by their unrelenting Scourges have ploughed upon their Backs, and made long Furrows, and at length brought them even to Death itself…And perhaps it might be better for the poor Creatures themselves, to be hurried out of Life, than to be made miserable, as they generally are in it…I have great reason to believe, that most of you, on Purpose, keep your Negroes ignorant of Christianity; or otherwise, why are they permitted thro' your Provinces, openly to prophane the Lord's Day, by their Dancing, Piping and such like?…" George Whitefield (1714-1770), a minister in the Church of England, was one of the leaders of the Methodist movement. The most popular and influential preacher of his time, he visited America seven times and it is estimated that during his lifetime he preached over 18,000 sermons. He was only 24 when he made his first trip to America in 1738. There are also reports of Rev. Whitefield preaching in nearby New-Castle, Wilmington, and Germantown with plans to go to the Jerseys and New-York. On the second and third pages is a proclamation by George Thomas, Lieutenant Governor and Commander in Chief of the Province of Pennsylvania, and Counties of New-Castle, Kent and Sussex on Delaware, referring to England's declaration of war on Spain and an order by King George II to send troops from England to the West Indies. Troops are to be raised in America as well. A notice, dated April 16, 1740, listing names of officers to whom "all such as shall be willing to inlist in the important Expedition now on Foot, for attacking and plundering the most valuable Part of the Spanish West-Indies" is on the fourth page. The names of officers in Philadelphia, Chester, Lancaster, Bucks, Newcastle, Kent, and Sussex counties are listed. Because Franklin realized that almost a third of his fellow settlers in Pennsylvania only spoke German, right beneath it is the identical notice printed in German. <I>The Pennsylvania Gazette</B></I> is said to be the first newspaper in America to publish articles in two languages. Eight advertisements complete the page including one concerning the schedule of a"Stage-Waggon" from Trenton Ferry to Brunswick and, ironically, in light of Rev. Whitefield's letter, another about the "Run away the 8th Instant from George Smith in Arch-Street, Philadelphia, a Negroe Fellow of about 22 Years of Age, of middle Stature, born in Bermuda, and speaks good English, named Jo. Had on a woolen Jacket. It's suppos'd he will endeavour to get off in some Bermudas Vessel. Whoever secures or brings him to the said Smith shall be reasonably rewarded." The newspaper is in apparently in very fine condition. The fact that the first page presenting most of Whitefield's letter and the fourth page with the enlistment notice in English and German as well as "Printed by B. Franklin" are all visible at the same time on the front of the frame makes this display extremely desirable.<BR><BR><b>Shipping:</b> Framed - with Glass, Medium (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.heritageauctions.com/common/shipping.php">view shipping information</a>)
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