EARLY FRANKLIN IMPRINT AND THE FIRST MAGAZINE TO BE PRINTED IN AMERICA.


[FRANKLIN, BENJAMIN, PRINTER. 1706-1790. TRENCHARD, JOHN; AND GORDON, THOMAS, EDITORS.] The Independent Whig [Caption Title]. [Philadelphia: S. Keimer, 1723-1724.] 4to (190 x 149 mm). 242 pp. 18th-century calf, stamped in blind, early rebacking, worn, some staining, some margins shaved just affecting text, loss to the corner of K2, tear to R1.Provenance: S. Clowes (inscription); to Mary Clowes (inscription); to Elizbeth Dorman (and Nehemiah, Gerhardus, John and Peter Dorman; inscription, dated 1787); Thomas Stokely (inscription). PREVIOUSLY UNKNOWN AND UNRECORDED ISSUE. The first American edition of the influential journal from the men behind Cato's Letters, the first sixteen numbers were issued weekly for "a penny each paper" (Number 1, Introduction). According to Hildeburn, publication began in late 1723 "in weekly numbers of four pages. He published twenty numbers in this form, and then printed off the remainder in book form, using the weekly numbers to make up the complete work" (Hildeburn 224). Although little publicized, the issues constitute the frist American magazine publication, predating Bradford's American Magazine (and Franklin's own General Magazine three days later) by a good 17 years. Campbell X60. Evans 2537.