Ending Mar 7, 2024 10:03 EST
Maps, Travel & Sporting Books Including The Esmond Bradley Martin Collection
4
An apparently unrecorded account of East Florida at the time of the American Revolution
Estate / Collection: The Esmond Bradley Martin Collection
[MANUSCRIPT AMERICANA]
On a commission of Bankrupt [sic] against William Chapman and John Chapman exhibited before us and particularly refer'd to by them, in their Examinations. Newcastle, England?: 1782. Old green morocco, gilt rules. 9 1/4 x 7 3/4 inches (23.5 x 20 mm); 296 numbered pp. written in a legible cursive hand, signed by the Chapmans and their bankruptcy examiners. Light binding wear, but generally sound and clean. With the bookplate of Abel Chapman of Houxty.
John and William Chapman were both ancestors of the hunter and natural historian Abel Chapman (see lot 111 in the present sale), who was an enthusiastic family historian. His papers were sold at Sotheby's in 1998, and this manuscript was likely among them The account of their financial dealings is of substantial American interest. Page 15 et seq in this manuscript discuss the purchase of East Florida plantations of some 40,000 acres. The Chapmans, who were then engaged in the corn trade, also bought shares in several vessels for the export of their grain. Page 55 has a description of the East Florida estates ("a sandy desert overgrown with pine trees"), and the process of setting up the plantation is detailed, along with their slave-holdings. The Revolution intervened, and as described in these pages, one of their employees, a Major Macintosh, destroyed their houses and the land improvements they had made. After this they decamped north to Georgia, and the expenses of setting up a settlement there are detailed on page 97. Later in the manuscript, there is much material on their (English) colliery business, and it is worthy of note that they installed at their leased Byker colliery the first Boulton and Watt steam pumping engine to work on Tyneside. Still, there seems little doubt that their American losses in the aftermath of the Revolution led to further financial reverses at this time, culminating in bankruptcy.
William Chapman went on to have a remarkable career in civil engineering, as is detailed in his article in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, which curiously contains nothing about these American adventures. Conducted as they were amid the tumult of the Revolution it seems that this intriguing episode has been overlooked. The bankruptcy proceedings for which this manuscript was prepared were clearly a temporary setback, one from which the brothers swiftly recovered, both going on to achieve substantial wealth and eminence. William was a pioneer of the age of steam, and the inventor of the bogie, a part of locomotive construction that continues down to the present, as well as the articulated locomotive.
See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Chapman_(engineer) for a Wikipedia article on William Chapman; the excellent articles in the DNB are behind a paywall.
Sold for $4,160
Estimated at $1,000 - $1,500
Includes Buyer's Premium
Estate / Collection: The Esmond Bradley Martin Collection
[MANUSCRIPT AMERICANA]
On a commission of Bankrupt [sic] against William Chapman and John Chapman exhibited before us and particularly refer'd to by them, in their Examinations. Newcastle, England?: 1782. Old green morocco, gilt rules. 9 1/4 x 7 3/4 inches (23.5 x 20 mm); 296 numbered pp. written in a legible cursive hand, signed by the Chapmans and their bankruptcy examiners. Light binding wear, but generally sound and clean. With the bookplate of Abel Chapman of Houxty.
John and William Chapman were both ancestors of the hunter and natural historian Abel Chapman (see lot 111 in the present sale), who was an enthusiastic family historian. His papers were sold at Sotheby's in 1998, and this manuscript was likely among them The account of their financial dealings is of substantial American interest. Page 15 et seq in this manuscript discuss the purchase of East Florida plantations of some 40,000 acres. The Chapmans, who were then engaged in the corn trade, also bought shares in several vessels for the export of their grain. Page 55 has a description of the East Florida estates ("a sandy desert overgrown with pine trees"), and the process of setting up the plantation is detailed, along with their slave-holdings. The Revolution intervened, and as described in these pages, one of their employees, a Major Macintosh, destroyed their houses and the land improvements they had made. After this they decamped north to Georgia, and the expenses of setting up a settlement there are detailed on page 97. Later in the manuscript, there is much material on their (English) colliery business, and it is worthy of note that they installed at their leased Byker colliery the first Boulton and Watt steam pumping engine to work on Tyneside. Still, there seems little doubt that their American losses in the aftermath of the Revolution led to further financial reverses at this time, culminating in bankruptcy.
William Chapman went on to have a remarkable career in civil engineering, as is detailed in his article in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, which curiously contains nothing about these American adventures. Conducted as they were amid the tumult of the Revolution it seems that this intriguing episode has been overlooked. The bankruptcy proceedings for which this manuscript was prepared were clearly a temporary setback, one from which the brothers swiftly recovered, both going on to achieve substantial wealth and eminence. William was a pioneer of the age of steam, and the inventor of the bogie, a part of locomotive construction that continues down to the present, as well as the articulated locomotive.
See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Chapman_(engineer) for a Wikipedia article on William Chapman; the excellent articles in the DNB are behind a paywall.
Auction: Maps, Travel & Sporting Books Including The Esmond Bradley Martin Collection, ending Mar 7, 2024
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Timed Auction of Maps, Travel & Sporting Books Including the Esmond Bradley Martin Collection
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Bidding Will Open on February 22 and Close on Thursday, March 7, 2024 beginning at 10am
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Consignments Are Currently Being Accepted for Future Auctions
NEW YORK, NY -- Doyle will hold a timed online auction of Maps, Travel & Sporting Books closing on Thursday, March 7, 2024 beginning at 10am. Explore the world through a fascinating range of offerings featuring maps, Americana, travel, sporting books, literary sets and the Esmond Bradley Martin Collection of Africana.
Esmond Bradley Martin
Esmond Bradley Martin (1941-2018) was educated as a geographer and philosopher. He and his wife Chryssee had an enduring fascination with Africa, and settled in Nairobi, Kenya, in the mid-1970s. He wrote extensively, oftentimes in conjunction with his wife, publishing works including Zanzibar. Tradition and Revolution, Hamish Hamilton, 1978; Cargoes of the east. The ports, trade, and culture of the Arabian Seas and western Indian Ocean, Elm Tree Press, 1978; and many other works on African history and conservation. In the late 1970s, he began extensive research into the illegal trade in elephant ivory and rhino horn, which included substantial stints incognito posing as a buyer of illicit wildlife products. For a while, he served as special envoy for rhino conservation for the United Nations.
For about thirty years, beginning in the mid-1960s, Esmond Bradley Martin assiduously collected books and manuscripts on Africa and its history, acquiring a phenomenal collection of letters by many of the major English explorers of the nineteenth century, as well as numerous rarities from earlier centuries. He was buying at a time when troves of such material surfaced frequently at English auctions. Doyle was privileged to offer the first selection from his collection in the November 7, 2023 auction. We are pleased to present this second offering of property from The Esmond Bradley Martin Collection.
VIEWINGS BY APPOINTMENT
Please email Books@Doyle.com
TIMED ONLINE AUCTION
Bidding in the timed online auction will open on Thursday, February 22 and close on Thursday, March 7 beginning at 10am. Lots will close sequentially, one lot per minute, with a soft close. Should any bids be placed in the final minute, bidding will remain open on that lot for three (3) additional minutes.
PAYMENT
Please note that all purchases are subject to a Buyer's Premium
Payment can be made in the following ways:
· By credit card (an additional 3.5% fee will be charged)
· By wire transfer. For instructions, please email client.accounts@Doyle.com
PICKUPS & SHIPPING
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We Invite You to Auction!
Consignments are currently being accepted for future auctions. We invite you to contact us for a complimentary auction evaluation. Our Specialists are always available to discuss the sale of a single item or an entire collection.
For information, please contact Peter Costanzo at 212-427-4141, ext 248, or Edward Ripley-Duggan at ext. 234, or email Books@Doyle.com
