Two letterpress receipts on laid paper, with manuscript completions and additions.

HASTED - ORIGINAL RECEIPTS FOR SUBSCRIPTION TO HASTED'S HISTORY OF KENT.

Verlag: [Simmons, Canterbury] 1775 and 1776, 1775

Receipt one. 6.75 x 4.25 inches, dated 1st April 1775, made out to Edw. Marshall in the amount of £1:11:6 and signed A. Senior. The printing on the receipt is as follows: Received this_Day of _ 177_ of ___ the Sum of One Guinea and an Half, being the first payment towards a subscription of Three Guineas, for the History of the County of Kent, in two volumes folio; which books will be delivered, according to the proposals, as soon as printed, on the payment of the remainder of the said sum. I say received for the use of the Editor. [On the line below, between two horizontal lines] £1:11:6. Receipt two. 6.25 x 3.75 inches, dated 1st April 1776, made out to Edw. Marshall in the amount of £2:0:0 and signed A. Senior. The printing on the receipt is as follows: Received this_Day of _ 177_ of ___ the Sum of One Guinea and an Half, being in full of his subscription, for the second volume of the History of Kent, in folio, by Edward Hasted, Esq; which book will be delivered as soon as printed. I say received for the use of the Editor. [On the line below, between two horizontal lines] £1:11:6. There is an alteration in ink to the word One, it being crossed out and the word 'two' substituted; an 's' has been added to the word Guinea. Signs of old vertical folds in both receipts. Receipt I. has a closed tear slightly affecting the first letter of Received. The left margin has a chip and the left lower corner is missing without affecting the printed matter. A stain darkens the left lower part and the paper is evenly browned. These signs of age notwithstanding, the printing is clear and crisp. Receipt II. has some signs of ageing but is intact and the printing is clear and crisp. These receipts are rare survivors, examples of the type used by booksellers to acknowledge subscriptions to Hasted's monumental work. Hasted originally envisaged a two-volume work, to be published by James Simmons in Canterbury, when, in 1774, he issued his proposals for his History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent. This is supported by the wording of Receipt I. It eventually became clear that the original amount of the subscription, three guineas, would not, given the inordinate length of time taken to produce the work, be enough to cover his costs. In addition, the historical content was greater than could be published in two volumes. Volume III was offered at two and a half guineas to current subscribers or three guineas for purchase of the single volume. Volume I was published in 1778, and Volume II in 1782. Richard Goulden, noted authority on Kentish provincial booksellers, notes that A. Senior was Anne, the wife of David Senior, schoolmaster and bookseller of Sittingbourne. David Senior died in February 1777. Ann evidently helped in the bookselling business, and after her husband's death, continued the bookshop until her death in October 1801. No mention is made of Edw. Marshall in the list of subscribers in either volume I or II but there is an Edward Marshall mentioned in the text of volume I as a Rector of Fawkham. Mr. Senior however does appear in the list in volume I. KENT BOOKSELLING HASTED KENT. Bestandsnummer des Verkäufers 21058

Bibliografische Details

Titel: Two letterpress receipts on laid paper, with...
Verlag: [Simmons, Canterbury] 1775 and 1776
Erscheinungsdatum: 1775
Einband: No Binding
Zustand: Very Good