American Historical Ephemera & Photography

The Gentleman's Magazine. London: David Henry, February-March, May, September-December, 1775. 8vo, with woodcut illustration on title page (all copies disbound, with varying levels of toning, light soil, and scattered spotting).

An important series of issues demonstrating the seeds of revolution sprouting throughout the American Colonies. Content includes descriptions of conditions in the colonies, references to the Continental Congress, the Boston Port Bill, accounts of Parliamentary discussion conerning the growing tensions in America, insurrection in Boston, and much more. Particularly notable is the May 1775 issue which contains an early account of the Battles of Lexington and Concord, or "the particulars of an affair that that happened on the 19th [of April], between a detachment from General Gage's army, and the provincial militia of Massachusetts bay [sic], in which about 40 of the latter are said to have benn killed, and about 20 wounded." The account continues, in small part: "General Gage having heard that insurgents were drawing some cannon a few miles from Boston, he dispatched an officer with some troops to demand them to be delivered up, which the insurgents refused to comply with.... "

[With:] "A Plan of the City & Harbour of Louisburg; shewing that part of Gabarus Bay in which the English landed, also their Encampment during the Siege in 1745." Map from The Gentleman's Magazine. London: [March 1758]. Inset: A Map of the Island of Cape Breton.  Approx. 8 1/2  x 10 1/2 in. (adhesive on verso, creasing). The Siege of Louisburg was a pivotal operation of the Seven Years' War (French and Indian War).

[Also with:] The Universal Magazine of Knowledge and Pleasure. London: John Hinton, January 1775. Issue contains a report on Dr. Franklin's experiment, extracts from several Franklin letters, a biography of William Penn, and more. -- The Gentleman's Magazine. London: David Henry, Janaury 1757.