Charles H. Wharton. A Poetical Epistle to His Excellency George
Washington, Esquire, Commander in Chief (London reprinted for C. Dilly, in the Poultry; J. Almon, Piccadilly; W. Tesseyman, York; T. and J. Merrill, Cambridge; R. Cruttwell, Bath; and T. Becket, Bristol, 1780). Call number: Kane Americana 1780 Wharton ❧
❧ “The sole motive for republishing this Poem, and adding thereto a sketch of the Life and Character of General Washington (which the Editor now gives to the reader in the plain unaltered narrative of the Author, who is connected and intimate in the family of that great man) is for the charitable purpose of raising a few guineas to relieve, in a small measure, the distresses of some hundreds of American prisoners, now suffering confinement in the gaols of England. The profits arising from the sale of this book will be faithfully appropriated to that purpose; and this the Editor rests assured will be a much stronger incitement for the benevolent and humane to become purchasers of it, than any intrinsic value the performance may demand.” — Advertisement (p.3)

“Fifteen Thousand copies of this Poem were sold in the City of London, in about Three Weeks, at Two Shillings and Sixpence sterling, each, and the Money appropriated to the Benefit of the American Prisoners in England.” — at end of front matter headed “Advertisement to the London edition” in the 1782 Springfield, MA reprinting of this poem. ❧ ESTC records 25 copies. Perhaps some data useful for determining the perishment of printed books over time? If we give credence to the 1782 claim, then the instance of survival for this London edition is 1.7 copies per thousand.

Depictions of shopfronts usually have the front door closed. Here’s an uncommon glimpse through the doorway — How many figures? One? (The bookseller?) Two? (Customer and child?)

Wood engraving on back wrapper of Sophia Morton (Boston: Bowles and Dearborn, 72 Washington Street, … 1827). Call number: (Ex) in-process.

Admirable curiosities rarities, & wonders in England, Scotland, and Ireland, or, An account of many remarkable persons and places, and likewise of the battels, seiges, prodigious earthquakes, tempests, inundations, thunders, lightnings, fires, murders, and other considerable occurrences, and accidents for several hundred years past. Together with the natural, and artificial rarities in every county, and many other observable matters; as they are recorded by the most authentick, and credible historians of former and latter ages; adorned with the lively description of several memorable things therein contained, ingraven on copper plates. By R. B., author of the History of the wars of England, &c. and Remarks of London, &c (London: Printed by Tho. Snowden, for Nath. Crouch, 1683) Call number: Ex 3701.276 vol 1.

London bookseller Nathaniel Crouch (ca. 1640-1725) published his ‘histories’ under the pseudonym R.B. (alluding to Robert or Richard Burton). According to a contemporary, he “melted down the best of our English Histories into Twelve-Penny Books” and became a “Celebrated Author.” His works for the “middling sort” sold well, with some known to have gone into as many as thirteen editions. Thousands of illustrated, cheaply produced copies were issued, but few survive today. In 1918, publisher Charles Scribner II (1854-1930) presented a collection of “Burton’s books” and the Library collocated them at call number Ex 3701.276, subdivided by volume number, as follows:

Vol. 1. Admirable Curiosities. 1682.
Vol. 2. Admirable Curiosities. 10th Ed. 1737.
Vol. 3. England’s Monarchs. 2d Ed… Enl. 1685.
Vol. 4. The English Empire in America. 5th Ed. 1711.
Vol. 5. The English Hero. 13th Ed. [1739]
Vol. 6. Extraordinary Adventures, Revolutions and Events. 3d Ed. 1704.
Vol. 7. The General History of Earthquakes. 1734.
Vol. 8. Historical Remarques and Observations. 4th Ed. 1691.
Vol. 9. The History of The Kingdom of Ireland. 12th Ed. [A much enl. Ed. of 2d pt. of v. 170] 1746.
Vol. 10. The History of The Kingdoms of Scotland & Ireland. 1685.
Vol. 11. The History of The Nine Worthies of The World. 1727.
Vol. 12. The History of The Principality of Wales. 1695.
Vol. 13. The History of The Two Late Kings, Charles The Second and James The Second. 1693.
Vol. 14. The Ladies Glory. 5th Ed. 1781.
Vol. 15. Martyrs in Flames. 1700.
Vol. 16. The Surprizing Miracles of Nature and Art. 2d Ed. 1685.
Vol. 17. Two Journeys To Jerusalem. 1695.
Vol. 18. The Unfortunate Court-Favourites of England. 2d Ed. 1706.
Vol. 19. The Unhappy Princesses. 1733.
Vol. 20. Unparallel’d Varieties. 3d Ed. 1699.
Vol. 21. Unparallel’d Varieties. 4th Ed. 1728.
Vol. 22. The Wars in England. 5th Ed… Enl. 1684.
Vol. 23. Youth’s Divine Pastime. 5th Ed. 1767.
Vol. 24. The Wars in England, Scotland & Ireland … 6th Ed., Rev. and Cor. 1697.
Vol. 25. Historical Remarks and Observations upon the Ancient and Present State of London and Westminster … 5th Ed. 1703.

Martyrs in flames: or The history of Popery. Displaying the horrid persecutions and cruelties, exercised upon Protestants by the Papists for many hundred years past, to this time. In, Piedmont. France, with the massacre at Paris. Orange. Ephemia. Germany. Poland. Lithuania. Italy. Spain, with the bloody Inquisition. Portugal. Holland. Flanders. Scotland. Ireland, with the massacre in 1641. and England. Containing an account of I. The martyrs in the reign of King Henry VIII. and Queen Mary. II. The Spanish invasion 1588. III. The Gun-powder Treason 1605. IV. The fire of London 1666. V. The horrid Popish plot in 1678. VI. The marther of Sir Edmunbury Godfrey. VII. The detectable conspiracies of the Papists, and their adherents against K. William III. 1. By Grandivile a Frenchman. 2. By Charnock, Sir Wil. Perkins, Sir John Friend, Sir John Fenwick, and others, with their tryals and execution[.] Also Gods judgments upon persecutors. With several pictures By R.B. (London: Nath. Crouch, 1700). Call number Ex 3701.276 vol 15. • No copy recorded in ESTC.

For further details see: Robert Mayer, “Nathaniel Crouch, Bookseller and Historian: Popular Historiography and Cultural Power in Late Seventeenth-Century England,” Eighteenth-Century Studies v. 27, no. 3 (Spring, 1994), pp. 391-419.