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Charles Deane Correspondence, 1881 and n.d., in the Tracy W. McGregor Library Autograph Collection, Accession #10547, Albert H. Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Va.
These items were transferred from William Runge of the Rare Books Division to the Manuscripts Division, Special Collections Department, on September 23, 1992.
The First Plymouth Patent , originally granted on June 1, 1621, was the first book printed on vellum in the United States. The volume was edited by Charles Deane (1813-1889), a member of the Massachusetts Historical Society, and privately printed from the manuscript in 1854. There were only four copies of this volume on parchment and three of the copies were given to James Lenox of New York, George Livermore of Cambridge and Edward A. Crowinshield of Boston. The Crowninshield copy went to London to Harry Stevens but subsequently became the property of William Menzies of New York sometime after 1866.
This collection consists of three items, a letter with its envelope, May 27, 1881, from William Menzies to Charles Deane, a postal card from Charles Deane (1813-1889) and a printed catalog description, all related to the The First Plymouth Patent purchased by the noted Americana book collector William Menzies.
William Menzies writes to Charles Deane, editor of The First Plymouth Patent , concerning the buyer of Menzie's vellum Crowinshield copy of the book which he has sold at auction. Joseph Sabin is mentioned. With the letter are a dealer's catalog entry regarding this copy and a postcard, 1887, Deane to Mr. McNamee giving binding instructions.