John Jerman | The American Almanack ... for 1731 — the only known copy in private hands

John Jerman

The American Almanack for For the Year of Christian Account 1731.Philadelphia: B. Franklin and H. Meredith, [1730]

Small 8vo (157 x 92 mm). Woodcut borders; title silked, margins with Japanese tissue repairs, browning and soiling. Full antique brown calf, covers decoratively tooled in blind. Housed in custom slipcase and folding chemise.

This is the earliest surviving almanac printed by Franklin, and the only known copy in private hands.

Benjamin Franklin had also printed almanacs for Thomas Godfrey, although none of these survive and are only known through contemporary advertisements. In 1732 both Godfrey and Jerman chose to use printer Andrew Bradford rather than Franklin, leaving the latter without almanacs to publish for the year 1733. As a result of this, Franklin quickly compiled the first Poor Richard, beginning a run of what would prove to be a lasting contribution to American letters.

Jerman eventually returned to Franklin, but in the 1740 Poor Richard Franklin predicted that Jerman would convert to Catholicism, a terribly scurrilous thing to say during such anti-papist times. Following this, Jerman once again took his business elsewhere.

REFERENCES:

Miller 21; Evans 3292; Hildeburn 403; Drake 9544

PROVENANCE:

Dr. John R. Hansell — The Stuart E. Karu Collection of Benjamin Franklin