Anthony Benezet's Library

ANTHONY BENEZET'S LIBRARY63 ANTHONY BENEZET'S LIBRARY By Henry J. Cadbury Some of us when we step into the houses of our friends irresistibly are drawn to look at the books in their library. Such a practice sometimes gives us a sidelight on unsuspected traits of their characters. Equally interesting is any information about the books owned by famous persons of the past. Something is known about the libraries of several early Friends either by lists or by the actual books which are extant. A list of books owned by George Fox has recently been published.1 There is extant but unpublished a shorter list of learned books once owned by Richard Richardson, his learned contemporary. In both instances some of the actual books remain at Friends House, London. The library of Benjamin Furly at Rotterdam, remarkable for its size and the scope of languages and subjects which it covered, was listed in a printed volume used for its sale in 1714.2 F. D. Pastorius left an inventory of books which he owned, that has now been printed.3 In Philadelphia the Loganian Library goes back to a nucleus of more than 2000 volumes intended to be left to the public by James Logan. After his death in 1751 his heirs carried out his intention and caused a catalog to be printed. The names of several books owned by John Woolman are known to us through his own memoranda of borrowings and returnings.4 A large group of books owned formerly by John G. Whittier are now in Swarthmore College Library. A handful of the books of Thomas Chalkley with his bookplate, part of his bequest in 1741 of 111 books with which he founded the Library of Friends in Philadelphia, are now in the possession of the Haverford College Library. The present year is a suitable opportunity for publishing a list of books once owned by Anthony Benezet and given to the 1 Journal of Friends Historical Society, XXVIII, 1931, p. 3 ff. ; cf. XXIX, 63 ff. ; XXX, 9 ff. 2 Bibliotheca Furliana, Rotterdam, 1714. s The Life of F. D. Pastorius, by M. D. Learned, Phila., 1908. pp. 276-284. 4 Account Book, now at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania ; see A. M. Gummere, The Journal and Essays of John Woolman, N. Y., 1922, p. 631 f. 64 BULLETIN OF FRIENDS' HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION Library of Friends in Philadelphia at his death in 1784. The first printed catalog of that library, published shortly after, but without date, marks these gifts with an asterisk, and a MS. continuation of the same catalog in my possession adds several more (especially collections of tracts) with like marks. Several of these books marked with a special bookplate were still in Friends Library at its dissolution in 1929 5 and passed over into the possession of Haverford College Library. Some have Anthony Benezet's signature as well. They are marked in the list below with an asterisk. One thinks of Benezet more as of a publisher than as of a collector of books. Especially the collections of tracts are the result of his industry. He was particularly noted in his time as one who gave books away.6 He had been the first Librarian of the Friends Library in Philadelphia and naturally he made it a beneficiary of his will. The range of books is probably not representative of Benezet's own reading. French works are not very conspicuous in the list. On the other hand, the books on medicine show that Benezet', like many other early Friends in America, had a lay interest in this subject. The list is, however, of principal interest to the bibliographer. Probably few of the books are well known rarities, but especially among the bound tracts are to be found many Colonial American items. Hildeburn in compiling his Issues of the Press of Pennsylvania evidently made considerable use of these volumes. FOLIO 7 18. History of the Rise, Increase and Progress of the People called Quakers, by William Sewell. 5 Unfortunately some of the library had been thrown away or given away before the preservation of Benezet's books was suggested. Another book owned by Benezet...