Both a manuscript and a printed book, George Washington’s 1762 journal has entries that begin on January 27th (a month before his 30th birthday) and are recorded for about one hundred days of the year, the last on December 15. Of forty-one known original Washington diaries, this is one of only five not in the Library of Congress. The others are in the collections of Columbia University (two), Detroit Public Library, and the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. As a gentlemen farmer Washington was a member of an economic and social class that came to the Americas to work the land, a role he shared with thousands of Dutch, German, English, French, and Spanish settlers. This volume records activities at Mount Vernon, mainly planting tobacco and raising cattle and sheep, though finance and slaves are also mentioned.Once the viewer gets through with the astounding “Americana” case and its accompanying articulate and gripping quotes about the material, the next window is Case 3, “History.” This window also contains some books and other materials that, roughly speaking, could be grouped under the term “Americana,” including books on piracy; the first Christmas card; and a shocking original political cartoon by Arthur Szyk executed in 1944 and entitled: “What Would You Do With Hitler? I Would Have Made Him Negro, and Dropped Him Somewhere in the U.S.A.” (Collector: Anthony V. Mourek). Case 3 shares its window with the topic of “Travel,” most of which concerns non-American travels. One remarkable item from this case is a three-dimensional “Folding peepshow of fancy-dress ball at the Haymarket”, lithographed by T.M. Barnes in 1825-26. This piece resembles nothing so much as a very sophisticated child’s paper-doll house or construction project. (Collector: Jacqueline & Jonathan Gestetner). In Case 4, “Literature” shares room with “Travel”: the literary materials, while extremely strong,
When I began collecting Americana, more than forty years ago, I decided to seek out manuscript material that offered insights into the personal lives of individuals who shaped the early history of the Americas. Recorded here in precise and simple language (at times almost a personal shorthand) are the activities of Washington’s daily life during 1762. It is his direct and disciplined attention to detail, without embellishment or comment, which I find so intriguing.
Another point of interest is that Washington placed “X” marks next to certain quotations in the almanac. Characteristically he selected “Never raise Expectations which are not in your power to satisfy: it is more pleasing to see smoke gradually brightening into Flames than flames sinking into smoke.”
Our collection focuses on the years between the first encounter of Columbus (we have two editions of the Columbus letter, the 1492 Rome and the 1494 Basel) and the revolutionary period that separated the colonies from European control. The Washington diary is among the more important items in our collection of colonial manuscripts.
Rare Book Monthly
Book Catalogue Reviews - December - 2002 Issue
The Grolier Club Collects by Abby Tallmer
Collector: Marcus A. McCorison
