Titan Leeds | The American Almanack for the Year of Christian Account, 1728

Titan Leeds

The American Almanack for the Year of Christian Account, 1728. ... Fitted to the Latitude of 40 degrees, and a Meridian of five hours west from London, but may without sensible error, serve all the adjacent places, even from New-found-land to Carolina. Philadelphia: Printed by S. Keimer in Second-Street, Philadelphia, and sold by W. Heurtin Goldsmith in New York, David Humphreys at Flushing on Long-Island. (Beware of the counterfeit one, [1727]

8vo (160 x 102 mm). Woodcut borders, headpiece to title, and anatomical man; lacking final leaf, neat marginal repairs, a few leaves lightly browned, a few stray spots and stains. Stitched self-wrappers; some rubbing and soiling. Slipcase and chemise.

The almanac maker Titan Leeds was a frequent target of Franklin's satire, although he was a client of Keimer's shop, where Franklin worked. Because of Leeds's interest in astrology, Franklin caricatured him as "Titan Pleiades" in several Silence Dogood essays, and in the first, 1733, Poor Richard, Franklin went so far as to claim that financial necessity would have motivated him to begin publishing an annual almanac much earlier, “had it not been [for] my Regard for my good Friend and Fellow-Student Mr. Titan Leeds, whose Interest I was extremely unwilling to hurt: But this Obstacle (I am far from speaking it with Pleasure) is soon to be removed, since inexorable Death, who was never known to respect Merit, Has already prepared the mortal Dart, the fatal Sister has already extended her destroying Shears and that ingenious Man must soon be taken from us. He dies, by my Calculation made at his Request, on Oct. 17. 1733.” Leeds in fact survived until 1738.

This almanac is very rare; there have been no copies sold at auction since 1924 (possibly this copy).

REFERENCES

ESTC W22964; Evans 2892; Drake 9527; Hildeburn 308