Collection ID: 0002 | Metadata type: TEI | TEI XML | Data

Title

Philadelphia Quaker merchant account book.

Other related names

• Garner, Robert, former owner
• Kaplan, Arnold Harvey, 1939-, donor
• Kaplan, Deanne, donor

Call number

MS 56, Codex 044.1
(420 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19106-3703, University of Pennsylvania, Library at the Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies)

Alternate identifiers

• bibid: 9978890218203681
• http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1343313473
• https://colenda.library.upenn.edu/catalog/81431-p3x92246r

Publisher

University of Pennsylvania

Origin

Date

1784-1788

Place

Philadelphia

Summary

Chronological register of transactions into and out of many accounts, including purchases by customers of sundry goods such as textiles and clothing, tableware and other household items, hardware, and some food and drink; payment of fees in doing business (pilotage, postage, porterage, lighterage); insurance for cargo and vessels; and payments related to commercial voyages to Bristol, Dublin, Faial (in the Azores), Madeira, and Savannah. Customer accounts include some for women, ships, and ship captains. Jewish transaction partners include Israel Cohen, Moses Cohen, Michael Gratz, Manuel Josephson, Abraham Myers, Asher Myers, Haim Solomon, Isaac Solomon and the companies Levi, Abraham, & Son; Mordecai Lewis & Co.; and Simon & Etting. Prominent Philadelphia Quakers include members of the Biddle, Chew, Drinker, Haines, Hicks, James, Logan, Powell, and Yarnall families. Near the end of the volume are detailed entries for past transactions (1784-1786) with the Bank of North America (p. 656-671). Many leaves are torn out at the beginning, and the first extant leaf is detached and has a lower corner cut away with loss of text.

Notes

• Ms. codex.
   
• Title supplied by cataloger.
   

Extent

1 volume (220 leaves) : 415 x 265 mm bound to 420 x 300 mm

Foliation

Paper, 220 leaves; 245-330, [331], 332-418, 418, 420-528, [529], 530-684, original pagination in ink, modern pagination in pencil, upper outer corners.

Support

Paper

Binding

Original (18th-century) reverse calf, blind-stamped; spine label Journal; spine ends chipped and torn.

Layout

Ruled in 9 columns, from left to right: left margin, ledger account number, transaction notes, item pounds, item shillings, item pence, transaction pounds, transaction shillings, transaction pence.

Script

Written in cursive script by multiple hands.

Provenance

• Formerly owned by Robert Garner (inscription in ink dated 24 August 1968, inside front cover),
   
• Sold at auction at Freeman's (Philadelphia), 21 November 2020.
   
• Purchased for the Penn Libraries 2021 by Arnold and Deanne Kaplan (Freeman's, 21 November 2020) (Collectify no. 2020.11.21.00004; 13.1906).
   

Subjects topical

• Merchants--Pennsylvania--Philadelphia--18th century
• Jewish merchants--Pennsylvania--Philadelphia--18th century
• Quaker businesspeople--Pennsylvania--Philadelphia--18th century
• Philadelphia (Pa.)--History--18th century--Sources

Genres

• Account books
• Manuscripts, English--18th century
• Manuscripts, American--18th century

Licenses

• Text

  These images and the content of Library at the Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies MS 56, Codex 044.1: Philadelphia Quaker merchant account book. are free of known copyright restrictions and in the public domain. See the Creative Commons Public Domain Mark page for usage details, http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/.

  URL

  http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

• Text

  Metadata is ©2025 University of Pennsylvania Libraries and licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License version 4.0 (CC-BY-4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode. For a description of the terms of use see the Creative Commons Deed https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

  URL

  https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode