An Almanack of Coelestial Motions and Aspects, for the Year of the Christian aera, 1711.
America: Sold by N[icholas]. Boone at the Sign of the Bible in Corn-Hill, Boston. Disbound. Several short contemporary ink notations of calendar pages. Staining affecting area of about 2 ½ x ¾" at upper inner margin. Trimmed tight at the head but with no loss. Item #3799
This almanac for 1711 by Daniel Travis is as early a Boston almanac as one is likely to find now. It follows the traditional almanac formula of the time: eclipses for the year, Sign of Man cut, twelve calendar pages, brief astronomical observations and a final page of books for sale by the printer.
Very little biographical information is available about the almanac maker. The dates of both Travis' birth (1652) and death (1720) are followed by question marks in the standard references. It is known that almanacs bearing his name were issued for the years 1707 to 1723.
Boston was shown as the place of publication for the series except for the years 1709 through 1716 where it was changed to "America." An argument was made in the Brinley Catalogue that the almanacs for 1709-1716 were actually printed by William Bradford in New York rather than Bartholomew Green in Boston as the others in the series. Refuting that argument is the cut of the Sign of Man appearing in the 1709-1716 versions of the Travis almanac – it is the same as those in other Boston-issued almanacs by Green (Reilly 1784) rather than those used in Bradford's New York almanacs during the period,
This example contains eight leaves – as called for in Drake – with the final page being "Advertisements" for Husbandry Spiritualized and The Constables Pocket-Book, both for sale at Boone's shop in Corn-Hill. Other references cite an additional four pages, presumably two more leaves of advertisements.
A rare Boston almanac. While a number of institutions hold examples, RareBookHub notes no examples of any Travis almanacs.
References: Evans, American Bibliography: 1490; Drake, Almanacs of the United States: 2940; ESTC: W4151. Nichols, Notes on the Almanacs of Massachusetts: pp. 17-18. Reilly, Dictionary of Colonial American Printers' Ornaments & Illustrations: 1784.
[ICN 7828.1].
Price: $2,500.00