Roberts, E.J. [Elijah]

The Craftsman Volume II. [2] For 1830…’31. [1831]

Rochester: 'Published at Rochester, Monroe Co., N.Y.', 1831. Large Hardcover. Fair / No Jacket. Item #2309217

Title page and leaves of the first number (pp. 1-8) detached and cropped close, occasionally touching text at bottom or fore-edge, title similarly cropped without loss, short tears and stains throughout, contemporary signature of John M. Burt of Smithville, N.Y., later ownership markings of the Burt and Griffin families of Jefferson County, N.Y., bookplate of the Grand Lodge of New York on the front pastedown and their small blindstamp on corner of title and occasionally in text.

Small folio, contemporary leather spine and corners, marbled boards. [4], 1-19, 22-80, 89-112, 129-152, 161-168, 177-184, 209-216, 241-264, 289-320, 329-360, 369-376, 385-408 (of 416) pp, irregularly paginated. Being nos. 1-10, 12-14, 17-19, 21, 23, 27, 31-33, 37-40, 42-45, 47, 49-51. Altogether, 34 of 52 issues, bound under a general title with index leaf. Very scarce, comprising nearly one third of the 104 issues of this weekly, the principal organ of Western New York Masonry after the Morgan affair. The 260 pages present here contain a wealth of information on Masonic and Anti-Masonic activities in New York, especially the legal proceedings and political machinations that took place in the aftermath of Morgan's abduction and presumed murder. There is much material on the Whitney and Gillis trials and on the libel suit against Roberts for his coverage of the former. There are numerous accounts of meetings and conventions. Special Prosecutor John C. Spencer, local anti-Masonic editor Myron Holley and Frederick Whittlesey, to take just several examples, are frequent objects of attack. Local rivals Thurlow Weed and Henry O'Reilly are mentioned less frequently, generally with humor or grudging respect. The section of the index, 'On the Excitement' takes up one and a half columns and has well over 100 entries. The 'Political' section of the index takes up more than a full column. It can be difficult to extricate the political from the anti-Masonic coverage. But the paper did have an interest in the more radical elements of Jacksonian democracy. Several of President Jackson's proclamations are reprinted in full, in particular the 15,000 word second annual address to Congress of December 7, 1830. Imprisonment for debt and the Sabbath Mail question are issues that recur. Local coverage includes an extensive account of the 'Rochester Liberal Meeting' of January, 1831, which elicited some angry replies from readers. Mark and Schwab* note that the resolutions of this organization indicate its spiritual affinity with the Working Men's Party of New York. The Friends of Liberal Principles and Equal Rights opposed ecclesiastical influence and the attempt to stop Sunday mails. It favored equality of education and the abolition of imprisonment for debt, and sympathized with the contemporaneous revolutions in Europe. The balance of the index, 'Miscellany' constitutes 3+ columns reflecting the roughly 50% of each issue that is given over to poetry and prose, some of it original, extracts from foreign journals, brief notices of local events, &c. In addition to many anonymous poems, the native literature includes the following frontier stories: Wakonda, a Tale of the Frontiers and Roger Dimon, a Story of the Canadian Frontier, both by Wyllys Gaylord of Otisco, N.Y.; The Mohawk's Revenge (a female captivity) by 'Eva'; Lundy's Lane by 'C.A.G.' of Utica; and Oolaita, a Story of the Wilderness (set in Ohio) signed 'L.P.M.' Other American stories include: First Love, written for The Craftsman by 'Edith'; The Execution. A Story of the Revolution, by Mrs. Grace H. Plumb, head of the School For Ladies in Rochester; The Family Meredith by Miss Eliz. Bogart, a romance set in tidewater Virginia; Lucy Moore, set in Middletown, Conn., written by 'Brentwood' of Mt. Vernon, Ohio; The Tent by James Lawson, extracted from Tales and Sketches, by a Cosmoplite (N.Y.: Bliss, 1830), and a lurid tale by W.L. Stone, The Dead of the Wreck (reprinted from Atlantic Souvenir for 1831), set in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, involving cannibalism, death by freezing, &c. Poetry includes numerous anonymous contributions with American themes. Signed compositions include poems by Prosper M. Wetmore, Samuel Woodworth, Cornelius Vanarsdale, and by 'D.S.B.' of Jamaica, L.I., 'C.' of Bangor, Me., 'Corninna' of Philadelphia, The Lost Ship, based on the wreck of the U.S. sloop of war Hornet, by 'T.V.H.' of Syracuse, and The Spirit by 'C.A.G.' of Utica. Strangely (and sadly) there is no mention of Joseph Smith and The Book of Mormon (published in Palmyra in May, 1830). There are two brief allusions to Mormonism, however: a notice of May 11, 1830 on the demise of the Geneva Chronicle, conducted by Franklin Coudery [sic], cousin of Oliver Cowdery; plus the following squib at the foot of page 385: Married… In Batavia, Nov. 23 [1830], by the hon. S. Cummings, Mr. GEORGE W. HARRIS, to Mrs. LUCINDA MORGAN, wife of Capt. William Morgan. WorldCat records holdings at 10 institutions but most of these are scattered and/or defective. An 'Appeal to the Public' by the Masons of Jefferson Co., N.Y., present here, lists John M. Burt among the brethren of Adams Township. *Mark & Schwab (eds.) The Faith of Our Fathers: An Anthology Expressing the Aspirations of the American Common Man, 1790-1860 (N.Y. 1952), page 274ff.

Price: $750.00