Books and Manuscripts

Rare Early Work From the Press of Benjamin Franklin

[Franklin, Benjamin] (Erskine, Ralph)
(Gospel Sonnets, or, Spiritual Songs...)
(London: Printed. Philadelphia: Re-printed and Sold by B(enjamin). Franklin, 1740). First American edition. 8vo. (iii)-74, 79-266; lacking six leaves: title-page, pp. 75-78 and 267-272 (including ad). Late-19th century full tan calf, stamped in blind, front board detached, slightly cocked, extremities and boards rubbed; edges stained brown; green patterned endpapers; ownership ink stamp of “G.A. Chandler, Bethlehem, Pa” on recto and verso front and rear endpapers and blanks; old inscription on recto first front blank; three leaves tipped-in at front tracing ownership of current volume from Amy Borden, ca. mid 18th-century, to Gertrude Chandler, 1914; ownership signature on paper slip of Isaac Eaton Chandler mounted at top of p. (iii); fore-edge repaired, p. (1); Amy Borden ownership inscription, bottom p. 14 ("Amy Borden Her Book"); Isaac Eaton Chandler ownership inscription, bottom p. 131; top corner of pp. 177/178 repaired, affecting text; top corner of p. 262 repaired; text toned; text edges trimmed close and worn, affecting some page numbers and running headlines; dampstaining in several margins and in some gutters; moderate soiling to most leaves, heavier to final leaves. Miller 187; Sabin 22794; Evans 4506; Hildeburn 626

A rare and early work from the press of Benjamin Franklin, with provenance from Amy Borden (1723-1804)--the daughter of the founder of Bordentown, New Jersey, Joseph Borden (1687-1765)--and her family. 

First American edition of Scottish Presbyterian minister Ralph Erskine's very popular collection of spiritual verse, Gospel Sonnets, published at the end of Franklin's first decade as a printer in Philadelphia. “Franklin's printing, set probably from the London edition of 1734, was the first edition published in the Colonies…by 1798 the Erskine had run through 24 editions in the British Isles.” (Miller)

A lengthy description bound in at front, written by Borden descendant Isaac Eaton Chandler (great-great grandson of the family's patriarch), explains this volume's lineage, noting that it “was once the property of my Great grand mother Amy Borden and youngest child of Joseph & Ann Borden, of Bordentown New Jersey…[Amy] gave it to her daughter Mary [Potts Eaton] who in turn gave it to her daughter Mary [Eaton Chandler]…” The book is then traced from Mary Eaton Chandler, to her son, the aforesaid Isaac, ca. 1857, thence to his son, George Allen Chandler, in 1894, and then to his daughter, Gertrude Chandler, in 1914. Explaining the condition of the volume, Isaac notes that it “went through the great Johnstown Flood of May 31st 1889, as its appearance denotes.”

Rare to auction, this is only the third copy offered since 1905. Complete copies are uncommon. The most recent was offered in 2018 and it lacked its ad and rear flyleaf, while the copy in 1905 lacked eight leaves at the end. Miller lists five institutional copies: Yale University (lacking signatures A, R, and S, including title-page), Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Boston Public Library, Library Company of Philadelphia, United Presbyterian Historical Society. We have located a further copy at the University of Pennsylvania (lacking everything after p. 254). 

Joseph Borden was born on May 12, 1687 in Middletown, New Jersey. In 1717 he settled in Farnsworth's Landing, opposite Pennsbury Manor on the Delaware River, and bought large tracts of land and renamed it Borden's Towne. He established a stage line that connected Philadelphia to New York, establishing Bordentown as a popular stop along the route. He had two children, Amy, the first owner of this book, and Joseph (1719-91), who represented New Jersey in the Stamp Act Congress and who fought for independence during the American Revolution.