In residence at the 'City of Brotherly Love'

I’ve started my short-term fellowship, and have been in Philadelphia for a week. I feel like I’ve made a good start. I’ve come across some letters showing a strong personal relationship between Robert Chambers and Joshua Lippincott. For example, a letter from February 1872, after Robert’s death. written when Robert's estate was being settled. Robert Chambers had securities held in America which needed to have been liquidated. But since he's not alive, someone, given the power of attorney, had to do that. Marwick (who seems to be the Chambers attorney) sent the letter giving power of attorney to Lippincott.

I’ve also found a letter in (Collection 3104 4.1) from J. Lippincott to Robert Chambers, II. The front part of the letter has to do with settling his father’s assets, but second part of the letter is personally moving, expressing words of regard for his late father. He also states that in a July or November issue of Lippincott Magazine, there will be something of a tribute to his late father.

I also found a letter, dated 14 August 1874 (Collection 3104 1.9) explaining why some revisions in text were made to the American edition of Chambers’s Encyclopaedia. Namely that content about the United States was very out of date, especially regarding the American Civil War, as the encyclopaedia text was written while the American Civil War occurred. I assume they refer to Volume 9, beginning p. 647. To be honest, I have not yet had a look at the British version of this particular text in comparison to the digitized American edition. All of the articles I compared with the online version had illustrations, so I have not looked at the specific entry for United States of America. So, that is something on my to do list, when I get back. I'll add a transcript of the full letter below, it is very interesting because it also discusses Lippincott’s efforts to stop D. Appleton & Company from publishing a pirated version of Chambers’s Encyclopaedia’s first edition in the United States, and suggests that Lippincott should actually have a purchasing the interest in the editing for the encyclopaedia. This letter also has implications for when they might have started discussion of a second edition, and how that influenced what they wanted covered in the contract for the second edition.

Next week I hope to get to a couple of files related to the Lippincott’s `plate vault’ circa 1900 which gives the number of boxes of their plate collections, their insurance value and when these were sent for printing. There is another Box 87, 32 electrotype plates, mounted on wooden blocks, for “Ironmaking in Pennsylvania.” I’m not sure of the dates of these plates from the finding aid, but hopefully I may be able learn what specific printing machine was used for Chambers’s Encyclopaedia in the United Sates. At this point in time, I only know for sure that in Edinburgh, an Applegath & Cowper machine was used for the first edition, and a Marinoni perfecting machine was used for the second edition. Michael Winship reckons that it was a cylinder machine, though he doesn't know what specific type. It would be enlightening to find out some specifics for my research.

I’m staying in Cassett House, a property close to both the Library Company of Philadelphia and Historical Society Pennsylvania. Other fellows are staying here, a few who are doing research at the American Philosophical Society, which contains material on American history of science. Benjamin Franklin seems to be the connecting thread, he founded both the APS and the LCP. The HSP and LSP are linked now, and next door to each other.

In a way it sort of feels like I’m staying in a college dorm, except our house is cleaner and grander, and everyone here is doing really interesting research. After 20 minutes of talking to people I want to read their books. Next week we are giving an informal talk here, and a co-Fellow has not only friended my Facebook, she's advertising our talk.

>>>HSP Collection 3104 Lippincott Archives. 1.9 pp21-75>>>

August 17, 1874

Messrs. W. & R. Chambers, Edinburgh

Dear Sirs,

We were duly in receipt of yours of the 9th [ult. ?], but the absence of our Mr. Lippincott, Sr. has prevented a more prompt reply.

We cannot but express our regret at the tenor of your communication — but presume that it is owning partially to the fact that, by reason of changes in your firm since the commencement of the publication of the Encyclopaedia, certain important circumstances pertaining to our connection with the enterprise may have passed out of the knowledge of your house. It should however be known to you that when we arranged with your firm to take up the work the Messrs Appleton, of New York had already commenced in the republication, and it is not too much perhaps to claim that but for our instrumentality in forcing them to abandon the field, and to sell out to us, you would hardly have realized the sum of £1800 from the circulation of the work in the American Market— and although this may be a sum, as you say, quite inadequate, considering the outlay in preparing work it certainly is much better than nothing; moreover, the outlay in preparing the plates for the American edition has been returned to you in addition to the royalty.

Again, you complain of the changes which we have made in the work and claim that our privilege only extended to the more taking of impressions from the stereotype plates as we received them from you. We have no hesitation in saying that had we confined ourselves to such a course it would have been absolutely fatal to the enterprise. Your editions [you] will remember that in the portions of the work issued during the [American Civil] war the articles relating to our country were in their tone decidedly favorable to the “secessionists” — offensively so to the Northern peoples — and we are sure that had we offered the work to issue unrevised as to these articles, it would have fallen [?] still-born from the press.

Other American articles - more or less - contained errors which so far as discovered were carefully eliminated. We do not think that in all this we exceeded the limits of our privileges in the matter, and we ___ ensure that we thereby added much to the currency of the work in this country.

Touching [on] the changes in which you take exception on personal grounds only one of them so far as we are aware has been noticed adversely and this one criticism was so clearly in the interest of a rival work that its effect was lost. Furthermore, your firm was distinctly exhonerated from advocating the principles of the article as it now stands and the responsibility whatever that may be placed upon us.

This at hand is our impression touching the newspaper articles to which you allude; it was considered of little consequence and not presumed [?] and therefore we cannot speak from any recent reading of it.

The revision that was necessary in certain articles at the outset became more generally necessary as the contents of the volumes became out of date by the lapse of time and hence our general revision was undertaken; the result of which you are somewhat acquainted with. We dwell upon these matters because we desire you to realize- what we feel certain that while giving all due credit to the intrusive merit of the work, much of its success in this country has been owing to our action in its favor at the outset and fostering care since.

It would indeed be a matter of very sincere regard to us that the pleasant relations which have existed between our houses for nearly twenty years should be disturbed, and we shall certainly submit to anything in reason to avoid such a result.

It occurs to us that it might be more satisfactory to all if we were to purchase your interest in our editions at a fair valuation, and thus at once heal our present understanding and obviate all possibility of a difference arising on the account in future. You many therefore if you please let us know what you will accept in full for your interest in the “Encyclopaedia” and “Book of Days” (the later, by the way, we have been quite unable to make a success of) and we assure you we shall meet you on any equitable basis of adjustment.

At the same time we think that you ought to realize (what we are quite certain of) that whatever you have received or may received hereafter from the sales of the work, our efforts, first in getting the work out of the hands of the Messrs Appleton at the outset, and then by our management in giving it an extended introduction, out of which latter fact we believe the market for the Enclish editions had principally grown.

We presume that you are aware that the Messrs Appletons are now issuing a revised edition of their Cyclopedia (seven vols. of which have appeared) [This refers to Johnson’s Universal Cyclopaedia which was 8 volumes originally, that I mention in my thesis, though the BL copy has the 8 books into 4 volumes] and it may also be known to you that two other Encyclopaedias are now in course of publication in this country, facts that should be taken into consideration as largely affecting the value of our work.

Enclosed we have the pleasure of sending a draft in your favor for £773.12.5, in full for the amount of your statement just received.

Awaiting your reply we remain

Faithfully yours, JB Lippincott & Co.