ZADOK CRAMER
Into this environment Zadok Cramer had come in the early spring of
1800. He was a young man of twenty-six, and was lured by the promise of
fortune and perhaps fame. In the short span of years that he lived and
flourished in Pittsburgh, he did more to advance the literary culture
of his adopted town, than perhaps all the other educational agencies
combined, which came before or after his time. It is customary to
glorify statesmen and soldiers; monuments are erected to their memory,
eulogies are pronounced in their praise, and memoirs are written
setting forth the deeds they have done. But one scarcely ever thinks
of the men who made possible the statesmen and soldiers: the teachers,
the men who conduct the newspapers, the writers of books, and above
all, the men who publish and sell books. The publishers and sellers of
books not only supply the wants of the reading public, but they lead it
into new channels. They place temptingly before it the latest and best
productions in every branch of human activity of the brightest minds in
the world.
Cramer was born in New Jersey, in 1773, but spent most of his life
since boyhood in Washington, Pennsylvania, where he learned the humble
trade of bookbinding. He was of Quaker origin, but had fallen away from
the tenets of that faith, although he still affected the drab coat and
straight high-crowned, wide-brimmed hat of the sect.[271] He possessed
withal the worldly shrewdness that is often an accompaniment of Quaker
devoutness.
On March 30, 1800, he advertised in the _Pittsburgh Gazette_ that
he was about to open a bookbindery. His announcement was couched in
somewhat stilted language. “Under a conviction that an establishment
of the above business will meet the approbation and encouragement
of the inhabitants of Pittsburgh and its vicinity, the undersigned
is determined to prosecute it as soon as he can make the necessary
arrangements. His hopes of the success of this undertaking are
flattering; he hopes likewise, that the public on whom he is depending
for encouragement will not be disappointed in placing in him that
confidence merited only by industry and attention to their favors.”
Cramer’s ambition extended beyond the limits of his bookbindery. John
C. Gilkison died on March 21, 1800, after having held the office of
prothonotary less than two months. The little bookstore which he had
established was for sale. Judge Hugh Henry Brackenridge seems to
have advanced the money invested by Gilkison in the business, and
it devolved on him to settle Gilkison’s affairs. This was Cramer’s
opportunity, and he purchased Gilkison’s business, obtaining favorable
terms from Brackenridge. In June he took possession. All his life he
believed in the efficacy of advertising, and his entry upon this larger
field was heralded by a long public notice.[272] It was addressed to
the people of the “Western Country.” He declared that he did not mean
to be limited to the confines of the borough, and intended to carry on
his business extensively. He emphasized his ability to make blankbooks
and do bookbinding “nearly if not quite as cheap” as could be done east
of the Alleghany Mountains. He enlarged on the bookstore which he had
just opened, and claimed to have a selection of nearly eight hundred
volumes.
His choice of location was fortunate. The business center was changing.
Merchants whose establishments had been on Water Street, on Front
Street, and on Second Street, were congregating on Market Street.
Gilkison’s store was on the east side of this street. Here Cramer
established himself, and after the _Tree of Liberty_ was founded,
advertised as being located “between the two printing offices.”[273] To
indicate his place of business he hung out the “Sign of the Franklin
Head”; Benjamin Franklin was the patron saint of everyone who had any
connection, however remote, with printing. Cramer designated himself,
“Bookbinder and Publisher,” and the word “publisher” did not long
remain a misnomer. It was the day of small publishers. Even in the
larger cities in the East, books emanated from the printing presses
of men whose establishments were of minor importance. Large publishing
houses are creatures of the complex civilization of a much later
period. Probably from the beginning Cramer contemplated undertaking
the publication of books and pamphlets as soon as his means permitted,
although it was some months before he actually began publishing. But he
was already making preparations to that end, and on October 17, 1800,
he announced that in a few weeks almanacs for the year 1801 might be
had at Philadelphia prices.[274]
At the national election of 1800, the Republicans were successful for
the first time, John Adams, the Federal candidate, receiving less
electoral votes than either Thomas Jefferson of Virginia or Aaron
Burr of New York, the two Republican candidates. The returns of the
electoral vote as counted by the Senate, indicated that Jefferson and
Burr had each received the same number of votes. The decision thereupon
devolved under the Constitution upon the House of Representatives,
voting by States. The Federalists had a decided majority in the House
of Representatives, but could not for the purposes of this election,
control a majority of the States; neither could the Republicans. In the
course of the summer the capital had been removed from Philadelphia
to the new town of Washington. Only the north wing of the capitol
was completed, and this was fitted up for the accommodation of both
houses of the Sixth Congress. The House of Representatives then became
the battle-ground for the presidency and vice-presidency. Jefferson
and Burr were both voted for, the Constitution providing that two
candidates should be voted for, the one receiving the highest number of
votes to be president, and the other vice-president.
The struggle grew in intensity, and the excitement became acute. The
sick members were brought into the House on beds. Ballot after ballot
was taken. The Federalists were mostly voting for Burr. The first
day’s session was extended into the next day. The House remained in
session seven days, a recess being taken at night after the first
day’s session. The Federalists were uneasy about several matters,
but particularly about the continuance in office of their friends.
Finally they secured from Jefferson an expression indicating that
meritorious subordinate officers would not be removed merely on account
of their political opinion. This settled the question. At noon on
February 17th, the thirty-fifth ballot was taken with no result as
before, but on the thirty-sixth ballot, Jefferson was elected. The
vice-presidency thereupon devolved upon Burr. The joy over the election
has hardly been equalled in the annals of American political history.
This was especially true in the vicinity of Pittsburgh. On the day
of the inauguration of Jefferson and Burr, the inhabitants of the
neighboring town Beaver gave vent to their exuberance by dancing Indian
dances, and singing the _Ça Ira_, and the _Carmagnole_ of the French
Revolution.[275] Cramer saw another business opportunity and determined
on his second publication. It was to be an account of the struggle in
the House of Representatives. On March 21, 1801, seventeen days after
Jefferson’s inauguration, Cramer announced the book.
Cramer’s energies were not to be confined to the business of
publishing, of selling books and stationery, and doing bookbinding.
Like John C. Gilkison, he determined to possess a circulating
library[276]; perhaps the nucleus was to be the books received
from Gilkison’s library. He called it the “Pittsburgh Circulating
Library” and it prospered, and six months after its establishment, the
circulation had nearly doubled.[277] A catalogue was promised for an
early date[278] and was no doubt issued. The list of the original books
in the library appears to have been lost. From notices of the reception
of later books[279] some opinion may be formed of the general character
of the reading-matter in the library. The books were mainly romances,
and they may have lacked the merit of later-day novels, but there is
something about them that touches the heart. Also they recall from the
shadows visions of readers long since dead. The books were realistic;
they presented the life of a distant past in vivid colors; there is the
lingering scent of lavender and bergamot. Delightfully described in
their voluminous pages were languishing eyes, tender accents, quaint
dances, dreamy music, and startling and sometimes unreal adventures.
Ladies were the principal readers; they loved long tales, and the
authors supplied them. Novels in three and four volumes were common,
and some were divided into as many as six volumes.
The three most popular writers were the English novelists, Mrs. Ann
Ward Radcliffe and William Godwin, and the Philadelphian, Charles
Brockden Brown, who was one of America’s earliest novelists. Mrs.
Radcliffe was the best writer of the three. Her novels fascinated her
readers. Cramer’s library supplied _Romance of the Forest_, one of her
best books. William Godwin was represented by _St. Leon_, a tale of
the sixteenth century, in which much that is supernatural and terrible
is introduced. Two books were by Charles Brockden Brown, one being a
graphic story of Philadelphia life during the yellow-fever epidemic of
1793, called, _Arthur Mervin, or Memoirs of the Year 1793_, the other
was, _Edgar Huntly, or Memoirs of a Sleep-walker_. _Montalbert_ was by
that most prolific of English writers, Mrs. Charlotte Turner Smith, who
in her day was criticized and praised with equal vehemence. _Mordaunt_
was perhaps the best novel of Dr. John Moore, who besides being a
physician and novelist, wrote books descriptive of manners and customs
in England, France, and Italy.
If the number of the author’s books in the library, was the criterion
of his popularity, then the palm must be awarded to George Walker,
the English bookseller, who was a prolific writer of novels. Three
were on Cramer’s shelves, _Theodore Cyphon, or the Beneveloent Jew_,
_The Vagabond_, and _Three Spaniards_. The last is the only one that
may still be met with. A popular book was _Children of the Abbey_, by
Mrs. Regina Maria Roche, who was a rival of Mrs. Radcliffe. Madame
de Staël’s _Delphine_, was read in more restricted circles. In the
case of _Julia and the Illuminated Baron_, by Miss Sarah Barrell, an
encyclopedia would be required to find either the name of the book or
of the author. Other books with suggestive titles have become still
more obscure. Among them were _The Silver Devil, Being the Adventures
of an Evil Spirit, related by himself_; _The Rebel, Being a Memoir of
Anthony 4th Earl of Sherwell, Including an Account of the Rising at
Taunton in 1684, Compiled and Set Forth by his Cousin, Sir Hilary
Mace_; _The Wanderings of William, or the Inconstancy of Youth_, being
a sequel to the _Farmer of New Jersey_. There were few periodicals in
the library. _The American Museum_, emanating from Philadelphia, was a
monthly publication, and contained articles on almost every conceivable
subject--“agriculture, commerce, manufactures, politics, morals, and
manners.” _The Mirror_, was another Philadelphia periodical published
semi-weekly, and was a reprint of _The Mirror_ of Edinburgh. _The
Philanthropist_, appeared weekly.
The library continued to be an institution in Pittsburgh’s intellectual
progress for many years. It became the Pittsburgh Library Company,
and contained as high as two thousand volumes. On November 27, 1813,
after Cramer’s death, a new library was organized, also called the
“Pittsburgh Library Company.” A committee was appointed to confer with
the old Pittsburgh Library Company upon the propriety of forming a
coalition of the two institutions.[280] Of this committee, John Spear,
who had become a partner of Cramer’s, was a member. A consolidation was
later effected.
The publications for which Cramer was best known in the early days,
were his almanacs and _Navigators_. The publication of almanacs was
common to all publishers in the border settlements, no less than in
the more effete East. In 1803, _Cramer’s Almanac_ had developed into
a pamphlet which is to-day both curious and valuable. The edition for
that year is a fair specimen of the other almanacs which followed it.
The astronomical tables, “calculated for the meridian of Pittsburgh,”
were said to “serve without any sensible variation for the states of
Ohio, Virginia, Kentucky, etc.” The almanac also contained selections
from the leading English contemporary writers. It necessarily followed
that the articles were by English writers, as American authors were
pitifully scarce. “The Poor Distracted Young Woman,” was from Robert
Bloomfield’s _Farmer’s Boy_. The _Farmer’s Boy_ from which the extract
was taken had previously had a remarkable success, over twenty-five
thousand copies being sold within two years after its publication in
1800. Other selections were, “A Description of a Summer Morning,” from
James Beattie’s poem, _The Minstrel_; “Sic a Wife as Willy Had,”
from Robert Burns; a biography of Dr. Isaac Watts, whose version of
the Psalms had superseded that of Rouse, and was in general use among
the Presbyterians of Western Pennsylvania. There were suggestions on
various subjects--“Polonius’s Advice to his Son Laertes,” and “Dr.
Soloman’s Observations.” The last article was by Dr. Samuel Soloman,
a London physician who was termed a quack, but the “Observations”
indicate that he had a discriminating knowledge of the rules of health.
The ague, while not prevalent in Pittsburgh, was common west and south
of the town. For this ailment there was a “Receipt to Cure the Ague,”
and there was an “Advertisement to Farmers.”
The Constitution of the United States had been in force since 1788.
Its provisions were little known to the general public and the almanac
published it in full. The Constitution became the model for the
constitutions of almost all the States, old as well as new. For this
much credit was due to _Cramer’s Almanac_, at least so far as some
of the Western and Southwestern States are concerned. More valuable
than anything contained in the almanacs, from a local point of view,
were the lists of marriages and deaths. Nowhere else are they to be
found. No record of marriages or deaths was required to be made by
either the municipality or the county. The church records were kept
intermittently, and were imperfect. Few of the older families have
records extending back to the beginning of the nineteenth century, and
Cramer’s lists furnish the only accurate information on the subject. In
1804 he began publishing two kinds of almanacs, the “Common Almanac”
and the “Magazine Almanac.” The latter contained somewhat more reading
matter than the former. The almanacs were sold in large quantities
both for local use and for distribution south and west of Pittsburgh.
In the almanac for 1804 Cramer for the first time gave “a view of the
manufacturing trade of Pittsburgh.” From that time forward, for the
twenty-seven years that the publication of the almanacs was continued,
much valuable local historical matter is to be found in their pages.
The _Navigator_ was the result of an original idea of Cramer’s. He had
been in Pittsburgh but a short time when he realized the necessity for
a publication giving detailed information for navigating the Western
rivers. He daily saw swarms of immigrants pass through the place, bound
West and South, who lingered there attempting to learn, not only about
navigating the rivers, but of the country to which they were bound. He
proposed to furnish the information and set about collecting data for
the purpose. He was venturing upon an almost uncharted sea.
The basis of his work seems to have been Captain Thomas Hutchins’s, _A
Topographical Description of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia_,
published in London in 1778. Captain Hutchins was an American, who had
seen much service in the English army before the Revolution, mainly as
engineer. At the outbreak of the war he was in London, and owing to his
sympathy for his native country, suffered indignities and imprisonment,
but found an opportunity to publish his book. Escaping to America, he
was in 1781, by the influence of Benjamin Franklin, made “Geographer
to the United States of America,” which appears to have meant that he
was in charge of the government surveys. After the war he lived in
Philadelphia, but was well known in Pittsburgh where he often stopped,
as he owned considerable land in Allegheny County. These facts and
the knowledge that he died in Pittsburgh on April 28, 1789, no doubt
helped to draw Cramer’s attention to Hutchins’s book. Other works
from which Cramer may have obtained materials were Gilbert Imlay’s
_North America_, published in London in 1797, and Jedidiah Morse’s
_The American Gazeteer_, originally published in London in 1789 and
republished in Boston in 1797.
It is generally supposed that the first edition of the _Navigator_ was
published in 1801, yet no copy bearing that date is known to be in
existence. There are extant several copies of the edition of 1802. This
edition was called _The Ohio and Mississippi Navigator_. In the preface
dated February, 1802, the statement was made that two former editions
had been issued; that they were both confined to the navigation of
the Ohio River; and that they were sold in a very short time. No
notice appeared in the _Pittsburgh Gazette_ or the _Tree of Liberty_
advertising either of the two earlier editions. The first mention of
the _Navigator_ appeared in the _Pittsburgh Gazette_ on February 26,
1802. This notice stated that there was “In the press and speedily
will be published by Zadok Cramer, ‘The Navigation of the Monongahela,
Allegheny, Ohio, and Mississippi Rivers.’” The advertisement was
continued in several succeeding issues of the paper. Then on March 13,
1802, the _Tree of Liberty_ announced that there had been published
the day before, “The Navigation of the Monongahela, Allegheny, and
Ohio Rivers.” The notice continued, “and in a few days will be added
... the ‘The Navigation of the Mississippi (with an account of the
Missouri).’” No other notices appeared at or about this time conveying
other information. As the edition of 1802 was called the _Ohio and
Mississippi Navigator_, and the advertisement in the _Tree of Liberty_,
referred to the publication of the “Navigation of the Monongahela,
Allegheny, and Ohio Rivers,” nothing being said of the Mississippi,
it might be inferred that it referred to one or both of the earliest
editions and that they were published in 1802. The preface to the
various editions of the _Navigator_ published after 1802, declared
that they were the “sixth,” or “seventh” or “eighth” edition, as the
case might be, which had appeared “since 1801.” Whether this statement
is the basis of the claim that the first edition of the _Navigator_ was
published in 1801, is not known, but the fact remains, that no trace
of any _Navigator_ issued in that year can be found. Nor are there any
known copies of the two earliest editions, whatever the year of their
publication.
The earlier editions were small octavo pamphlets bound in coarse paper
covers, the third containing forty pages. In this edition Cramer
declared that he had obtained the information set forth “From the
journals of gentlemen of observation, and now minutely corrected by
several persons who have navigated those rivers for fifteen and twenty
years.” It contained a description of and directions for navigating the
Ohio River, with only a description of the Mississippi. Directions for
navigating the latter stream came in later editions. When Cramer began
publishing his early _Navigators_, France still owned the Louisiana
Territory. Louisiana was considered a great land of promise throughout
the United States, and merchants and intending emigrants cast longing
eyes in its direction. After Louisiana was purchased, the succeeding
editions of the _Navigator_ contained much detailed information
regarding it. A flood of emigration to the territory set in, most of
the emigrants going by way of Pittsburgh; and there was a pronounced
and constant increase in the sales of the _Navigators_.
Captain Meriwether Lewis, and Captain William Clark made their famous
expedition from the mouth of the Missouri River through the interior
of the United States in the years 1804, 1805, and 1806. In 1807 Cramer
published the first account of the undertaking, being the _Journal
of Patrick Gass_, a member of the expedition. From this book Cramer
compiled an account of the Missouri and Columbia rivers, which appeared
in the _Navigator_ for 1808, and in many subsequent editions. Each
succeeding edition of the _Navigator_ was an improvement on the one
that preceded it. Every edition contained a description, short or long,
of the “towns, posts, harbors, and settlements” on the rivers of which
the work treated, the matter relating to Pittsburgh being particularly
valuable, and as the editions increased in size, the descriptive matter
grew in volume.
On December 6, 1811, the most destructive earthquake of the century
occurred in the country bordering on the lower Ohio River, and on
the Mississippi, completely changing the course of the two streams
at numerous points. Cramer promptly published a notice of the fact,
warning navigators of the danger, and requested newspaper editors to
print his notice.[281] The corrections were then made in the next
edition of the _Navigator_ which was published in 1814. The success of
the _Navigator_ reached its climax in 1814, when it contained three
hundred and sixty pages. From that time the size of the book gradually
decreased, until in 1824, when its publication was suspended, it had
fallen to two hundred and seventy-five pages.
The information relating to Pittsburgh, and to the rivers flowing by
and below it, cost Cramer infinite pains to collect. From Cramer’s
_Navigators_ the early travelers and later historians drew for facts
when writing about the Western country, often without giving credit.
Cramer complained of the piracy. In this connection he mentioned the
Rev. Thaddeus Mason Harris, whose _Journal of a Tour_ was published in
Boston in 1805. He was especially bitter against Thomas Ash, the writer
of a book of travel which appeared in London in 1808. He accused Ash
of having taken his account of the Allegheny, Monongahela, and Ohio
rivers verbatim from the _Navigator_ for 1806.[282] Notwithstanding
this charge, Ash’s book must have had some merit in Cramer’s eyes, as
he republished it the same year that it came out in London. Most of the
writers, however, who obtained their information from the _Navigator_,
gave it as their authority. John Mellish who was in Pittsburgh in
1811, commended the work: “The Pittsburgh _Navigator_ is a little book
containing a vast variety of information regarding the Western country,
the prosperity of which seems to be an object of peculiar solicitude
with the editors.”[283] Christian Schultz, coming through Pittsburgh
in September, 1807, had this to say: “Before I left Pittsburgh I
purchased the _Navigator_, a kind of _Blunt_, or _Hamilton Moore_, for
these waters; it is a small pamphlet, but contains a great deal of
useful and miscellaneous information, and is particularly serviceable
to a stranger.”[284] _Blunt_ was the _American Coast Pilot_, published
in 1796 by Edmund Blunt, and still used in recent years; _Hamilton
Moore_ was an English work called the _Practical Navigator_, of which
many editions were published in London by Hamilton Moore.
REFERENCES