Manuscript Notebook of John and James Thomson
[ New York ]: Self published [ 1843 -1880s ]. First Edition. Approximately 70 pages with substantial handwritten content, some additional partial plus laid in material. 6 1/2 x 7 3/4 inches. Leather spine and marbled paper covered boards. Marked "John and James Thomson" on cover. Good. Boards. [18684]
Holograph manuscript notebook containing notes of John and James Thomson. Likely store owners, the notebook contains details of what they bought and sold including a 4 page store inventory in 1847. The contents are wonderfully diversified with sample entries including: a page describing the "Poultry bought in 1864", grafting wax recipe 1887, 1848 general ledger entries, 10 pages handwritten instructions for tanning, hairing, and glossing leather (flesh side blacking, tanning muskrat skins, etc). Other recipes (curing meat, book grease polish, stimulating liniment, making cloth waterproof, T S Elliott liniment, grafting wax, etc) are also scattered throughout.
A handwritten note from William G Thomson and Thomas J Elliott prohibiting fishing on their premises, newspaper clippings and other items also found laid in. Some pages excised or partially missing. There are also various loose items inserted as is often the case. Newspaper clippings, a trade card for Parrish, Phillips & Co Anthracite Coal, Broadway, NY, an 1876 letter to William G Thomson Esq (Walton NY) regarding the use of Cherry-Heat Welding Compound and it's use with accompanying circular.
All in all, an interesting view into what the Thomsons found worth keeping on hand. Various places noted, but the most promising is a pencilled "Bovina Jan 18th 1847" on a front endpaper. An 1850 online census from Bovina includes the names James Thomson, John Thomson, and William Thomson. Dates start in 1843 and a few laid in items date from the 1880s with most entries from the 1840s.
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