Anyone kno wthis book?

[mudboy dave]

Anyone know this book?

My father gave me a book today that he bought back sometime in the 70s. The name of the book is "Martha" "The Complete Diary & Journal" 1808-1815
this book was written by Henry H. Bisbee and his wife Rebecca. I searched on this site for it and never seen it mentioned. I was curious to the rareity of this book along with the accuracy of the history. I'm hoping my Dad hooked me up with something rare

 

[Ben Ruset]

Henry Bisbee wrote "Place Names of Burlington County" and the "Signposts" books as well. I just looked on AbeBooks and didn't see the Martha book, so yeah, I'd say it's a rare book.

You should thank your Dad. That's one book I wouldn't mind in my collection.

 

[mudboy dave]

awesome, just thanked him, since we work together. If you want I'll bring it with me on the 29th for you to view. My dad spent alot of time @ Marthas Furnace back in the 70s when he used to hunt. After spending so much time there he was interested in the history. One day while at Batsto he happened to notice this book and decided to buy it to learn about the place.
within the book is a name list of the workers of Martha taken from tax lists. old pictures of the ruins. picture of the actual diary. small biographys of the people of Martha. a picture of "Martha Furnace" auction ad in the Nov,4,1805 Trenton Federalist newspaper

 

[MarkBNJ]

I'm sure it is rare, just based on the likely number of copies that would have been printed and sold. I'll have to check to be sure, but I think Art Pierce sourced his excerpts of the diary for "Iron in the Pines" from Bisbee's transcription.

In any case, having a complete transcription of the Martha diary is a great thing, regardless of how rare or valuable the actual manuscript is. If you ever want to sell it, let me know before Jerseyman .

 

[Ben Ruset]

Ah, I think part of the reason why it is hard to find is because it's self published.

http://books.google.com/books?id=wMsPIAAACAAJ&dq=martha+diary+bisbee&ei=URMbSe-8Ko3IMrWV_SA

Eh, buy it for $35:
http://www.ilab.org/db/book1658_5320.html

 

[mudboy dave]

eh, sucks its still available however still neat to have