{"id":171042,"date":"2025-04-04T15:48:14","date_gmt":"2025-04-04T15:48:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/american-history\/constitution-of-the-portsmouth-encyclopedia-society-ca-1803-past-is-present\/"},"modified":"2025-04-04T15:48:14","modified_gmt":"2025-04-04T15:48:14","slug":"constitution-of-the-portsmouth-encyclopedia-society-ca-1803-past-is-present","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=171042","title":{"rendered":"Constitution of the Portsmouth Encyclopedia Society, ca. 1803 \u2013 Past is Present"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n

Pasted into volume 11 of Encyclopaedia; or, A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and Miscellaneous Literature<\/em> (Philadelphia: Thomas Dobson, 1798), this broadside appears to be the only surviving evidence of one of the most unusual private circulating libraries. It demonstrates the cultural importance of one encyclopedia and the lengths people might go to be able to purchase such an expensive item.<\/p>\n

An entire society was set up in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, to circulate just one publication: Dobson\u2019s multi-volume Encyclopaedia<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
(Front page of the Constitution of the Portsmouth Encyclopedia Society.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Published by Thomas Dobson from 1789 to 1798, Dobson\u2019s Encyclopaedia<\/em> was the first issued in the newly independent United States of America. Largely a reprint of the third edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica<\/em> (published 1788\u201397), Dobson\u2019s was a slightly longer work in which a few articles were edited for a patriotic American audience. The original 18 volumes were published between 1792 and 1798, but a 3-volume supplement was published in 1803. Since the broadside refers to the encyclopedia as a 21-volume set, the broadside itself presumably was not printed before 1803.<\/p>\n

The Portsmouth Encyclopedia Society\u2019s constitution begins with a statement of purpose: \u201cWe whose names are undersigned have formed ourselves into a social society by the name of the Portsmouth Encyclopedia Society, for the purpose of possessing ourselves of one complete set of Dobson\u2019s Edition of the Encyclopedia, consisting of twenty-one volumes.\u201d Each member was entitled to an equal share of Dobson\u2019s Encyclopaedia<\/em>, which were exchanged during quarterly meetings: the 21 members corresponded with the 21 volumes in the encyclopedia. A committee would examine the books and \u201cassess fines, in an impartial manner, in all cases where blots, torn leaves, or other damages, more than necessary wear shall in their judgment render it proper.\u201d Fines would be issued for damages to the volumes, and a fine of one dollar was to be paid by those who failed to return their volume at the quarterly meeting. The society allowed members to transfer their share via sale to another individual living in Portsmouth. The final article stipulates that a \u201cfair copy of the whole\u201d of these regulations is to be pasted into each of the twelve volumes of Encyclopedia to \u201cprevent all misunderstanding,\u201d and one of these volumes so marked is now at AAS.<\/p>\n

~ Elizabeth Pope, Curator of Books and Digital Collections<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pasted into volume 11 of Encyclopaedia; or, A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and Miscellaneous Literature (Philadelphia: Thomas Dobson, 1798), this broadside appears to be the only surviving evidence of one of the most unusual private circulating libraries. 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