History of the Colony of Nova-Caesaria, or New-Jersey ...

1765. SMITH, SAMUEL. The History of the Colony of Nova-Caesaria, or New-Jersey: Containing, an Account of its First Settlement, Progressive Improvements, the Original and Present Constitution, and other Events, to the Year 1721. With some Particulars Since; and a Short View of its Present State. Burlington: James Parker, 1765. x, 573, [1] p. In a neat mid-nineteenth-century half calf binding, marbled paper-covered boards. Extremities rubbed, front hinge a bit weak but still holding solid, gray stains on pp. 392-393, name clipped from upper blank margin of title. A very good copy. Philadelphian Emmor Kimber's copy, dated 1809.

The first edition (truncated) of the first general history of New Jersey, printed by New Jersey's first printer. James Parker left his Woodbridge printing office in the care of his son and moved to Burlington to fulfill a long-standing promise to Samuel Smith to print his history as soon as it was ready for the press. The printing press used was one belonging to Benjamin Franklin and formerly used by Franklin's nephew, Benjamin Mecom, in Antigua. The press was shipped from New York to Burlington in April of 1765, used for the Smith book and three or four smaller Burlington jobs, then sent on to Philadelphia in February of 1766, at which time Parker returned to Woodbridge. The press run was 600 copies, as indicated by Parker's bill to Smith. Parker printed two title pages simultaneously on a single sheet, thus providing each title page a blank conjugate for binding that also precluded the need for a free front endpaper. This old-time and cost-saving printer's trick, combined with stop-press alterations in the text of a number of sheets, has led past bibliographers to speak of two distinct issues of the book. There is absolutely no correlation between the uncorrected and corrected sheets and the two title pages; all were freely mixed by the binder without any discernible pattern or priority. See Felcone, Printing in New Jersey, 1754-1800: A Descriptive Bibliography, 105, for a lengthy and detailed essay on the production and history of this cornerstone New Jersey book. Evans 10166; Bristol B2619a; Miller, Benjamin Franklin's Philadelphia Printing, 853; ESTC W20457. (Inventory #: 15691)