Searchable record directory
1858 surviving copies
Browse 87 individually documented surviving copies in the 1858 Philomathean Society Rosetta Stone bibliographical census, with bindings, inscriptions, repositories, and provenance.
C001 · Washington Irving CopyOriginal dark-puce publisher-issued boards with silver-gray decoration.Authorial presentation by Charles R. Hale to Washington Irving, Christmas 1858.C002 · Private CollectionOriginal cream publisher-issued boards with black decoration.No presentation inscription, ownership inscription, or bookplate has been identified.C003 · Ann Eliza Sibley Gilpin–William Everett Presentation Copy · Cambridge, MassachusettsOriginal dark-puce publisher-issued boards with silver-gray decoration.‘Mrs. Everett—with the kind regards of Mrs. Gilpin—Jany 1st 1859—Phila.’ The presenter is strongly identified as Ann Eliza Sibley Johnston Gilpin…C004 · Arizona State University Copy · Tempe, ArizonaOriginal cream publisher-issued boards with black decoration.No presentation inscription, bookplate, or ownership marking has been identified in this copy to date.C005 · Edward C. Herrick Copy · Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaOriginal cream publisher-issued boards with black decoration.Gift of Reuben C. Hale to Edward C. Herrick, January 21, 1859.C006 · J. Francis Fisher Copy · Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaOriginal red publisher-issued boards with black decoration; later black cloth rebacking.Gift of Henry D. Gilpin to J. Francis Fisher, January 1859.C007 · Philomathean Society Red Copy · Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaOriginal red publisher-issued boards with black decoration; later black cloth rebacking.No presentation inscription identified.C008 · Philomathean Society Brown Copy · Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaOriginal brown publisher-issued boards with gold decoration.No presentation inscription identified.C009 · Kislak Center Cream Copy · Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaOriginal cream publisher-issued boards with black decoration.No early presentation inscription identified.C010 · Mrs. Horace Binney Copy · Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaOriginal cream publisher-issued boards with black decoration.Twentieth-century institutional gift, not an 1858–59 presentation.C011 · Bequest of Julia Biddle Copy · Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaLater reddish-brown institutional binding.No early presentation inscription identified.C012 · Gift of E. F. Smith Copy · Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaLater black institutional binding.No early presentation inscription identified.C013 · John Lambert / Abington Copy · Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaOriginal cream publisher-issued boards with black decoration.No presentation inscription recorded.C014 · Accession 2774.Q — “Gift of the Authors” Copy · Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaLater half-leather and marbled-paper rebinding.Handwritten “Gift of the Authors” inscription. The hand is suspected to be Charles Reuben Hale’s, but the attribution remains under review.C015 · James Albert Bancker Birthday-Gift Copy · Haverford, PennsylvaniaOriginal red publisher-issued boards with black decoration; later black cloth rebacking.Birthday gift from Ellen Maria Camac to her uncle James Albert Bancker, February 4, 1859.C016 · Mary J. Welles Authorial Presentation Copy · San Marino, CaliforniaLater reddish-brown institutional binding.Authorial presentation by Charles R. Hale to his aunt Mary J. Welles, Christmas 1858.C017 · Huntington Brown Copy · San Marino, CaliforniaOriginal brown publisher-issued boards with gold decoration.No presentation inscription identified.C018 · Jay T. Last / Huntington Orange Copy · San Marino, CaliforniaOriginal orange publisher-issued boards with black decoration.No presentation inscription identified.C019 · Duke University Copy · Durham, North CarolinaLater plain brown institutional binding.No presentation inscription identified.C020 · Joshua I. Cohen Presentation Copy · Madison, WisconsinOriginal cream publisher-issued boards with black decoration; rebacked, with most of the original spine laid down.Presentation inscription to Joshua I. Cohen, Baltimore, March 5, 1859; inscription includes “ex dono amicitiae.” The presenter is unidentified.C021 · Rev. W. F. Morgan Presentation Copy · Cleveland, OhioOriginal red publisher-issued boards with black decoration; later black cloth rebacking.Gift from George D. Morgan to his brother Rev. W. F. Morgan, New Year’s 1859.C022 · Marion Olmstead Mahan Estate Copy · New York, New YorkOriginal brown publisher-issued boards with gold decoration.No presentation inscription identified.C023 · Archibald Campbell Tait Authorial Presentation Copy · London, United KingdomOriginal brown publisher-issued boards with gold decoration and Egyptianizing motifs.Hale’s Christmas 1858 presentation letter recalls an earlier visit following an introduction by ‘Bishop A. Potter,’ probably Alonzo Potter. Hale…C024 · Private CollectionOriginal cream publisher-issued boards with black decoration.No presentation inscription identified.C025 · State Library of Pennsylvania — Cream Binding · Harrisburg, PennsylvaniaOriginal cream publisher-issued boards with black decoration.No presentation inscription identified.C026 · State Library of Pennsylvania — Plain Brown Rebound · Harrisburg, PennsylvaniaLater plain brown institutional binding.No presentation inscription identified.C027 · State Library of Pennsylvania — Reddish-Brown Rebound · Harrisburg, PennsylvaniaLater reddish-brown institutional binding.No presentation inscription identified.C028 · Richard Ashhurst Bowie / Harvard Duplicate Copy · Hanover, New HampshireOriginal brown publisher-issued boards with gold decoration.No authorial presentation inscription. The volume instead carries a layered institutional and private ownership history documented by bookplates and…C029 · Griffith–Ashmolean–Bodleian Copy · Oxford, United KingdomOriginal red publisher-issued boards with black decoration; later black cloth rebacking.No authorial presentation inscription documented.C030 · Brown University Brown Copy · Providence, Rhode IslandOriginal brown publisher-issued boards with gold decoration.No presentation inscription identified.C031 · Brown University Red Copy · Providence, Rhode IslandOriginal red publisher-issued boards with black decoration; later black cloth rebacking.No presentation inscription identified.C032 · Boston Public Library Copy · Boston, MassachusettsLater green institutional binding.No presentation inscription identified.C033 · Getty Research Institute — Simon Gratz Copy · Los Angeles, CaliforniaOriginal cream publisher-issued boards with black decoration.No presentation inscription identified.C034 · Charles C. Mellor Copy · Pittsburgh, PennsylvaniaLater plain brown institutional binding.No early authorial presentation inscription documented.C035 · Ann Pamela Cunningham–Charles C. Jones Association Copy · Athens, GeorgiaOriginal cream-and-black decorated boards, front and rear, both retained.Later association gift from Ann Pamela Cunningham to Charles C. Jones, Mount Vernon, July 19, 1872.C036 · Henry K. Hoff–Charles D. Meigs Presentation Copy · Worcester, MassachusettsOriginal cream publisher-issued boards with black decoration.Inscribed to ‘Dr. C. D. Meigs’ ‘with best respects of Comd. Hoff. U.S.N.’ The recipient is Charles Delucena Meigs; the presenter is strongly…C037 · George William Childs Authorial Presentation Copy · Worcester, MassachusettsOriginal brown publisher-issued boards with gold decoration.Authorial presentation by Samuel Huntington Jones, one of the three report authors, January 10, 1859.C038 · Princeton Nethercliffe / Ochre Point Copy · Princeton, New JerseyOriginal cream publisher-issued boards with black decoration.No authorial presentation inscription documented.C039 · Princeton Stevenson–Tappan Copy · Princeton, New JerseyOriginal brown publisher-issued boards with gold decoration.Emma Stevenson to ‘Mrs. Tappan,’ Michigan, 1863. Emily Eliza Stevenson and Julia Livingston Tappan are the strongly supported identifications.C040 · Villanova Rebound Copy · Radnor Township, PennsylvaniaLater plain brown institutional binding.No presentation inscription identified.C041 · Conrad–Godfrey Presentation Copy · Cambridge, United KingdomOriginal publisher-issued boards, heavily rubbed; dark-puce with silver-gray decoration. Rebacked, probably in the late twentieth century.Contemporary inscription: “Mrs B. G. Godfrey from her friend and pastor Rev. T. K. Conrad.” Project research identifies the recipient as Emeline M.…C042 · Roosevelt–Stuart–Lenox Copy · New York, New YorkNYPL Bindery rebinding, 1944: acrylic-coated brown buckram cloth. The previous binding was removed; no evidence of its material or color survives. Shelfmark: Stuart 10981.‘C. V. S. Roosevelt / to his friend / R. L. Stuart.’ Cornelius Van Schaack Roosevelt Sr. is the more likely presenter, although his son of the same…C043 · Charles Nordhoff–McGregor Copy · Charlottesville, VirginiaOriginal cream publisher-issued boards with black decoration.Two undated title-page signatures are provisionally read ‘Charles Nordhoff.’ The identification remains strongly supported by handwriting…C044 · Private CollectionOriginal cream publisher-issued boards with black decoration.The current owner reports that the owner’s parents acquired the volume at a Sun City, Arizona, estate sale in 1985. It later descended within the…C045 · Morton–Quincy–Greene–Waterston Copy · Boston, MassachusettsOriginal brown publisher-issued boards with gold decoration.A Waterston Library bookplate records later ownership. The library reached the Massachusetts Historical Society in November 1899, one month after…C046 · Watson Library Rebound Copy · New York, New YorkLater black institutional binding.The transfer from Swentzel to Harold Baxter Liebler and the date of Liebler’s gift to the Met are unrecorded.C047 · Haynes–Lythgoe Copy · New York, New YorkOriginal brown publisher-issued boards with gold decoration; later cloth spine replacement.The transfer from Albert Morton Lythgoe to the Metropolitan Museum is unrecorded.C048 · Bryn Mawr Montgomery Copy · Bryn Mawr, PennsylvaniaOriginal cream publisher-issued boards with black decoration.The gift of ‘Mrs. W. W. Montgomery’ is dated July 10, 1965. Fannie Brock Montgomery is the strongest candidate; the initials do not confirm her…C049 · Newark Public Library Copy · Newark, New JerseyOriginal brown publisher-issued boards with gold decoration; later cloth-tape spine replacement.The inscription identifies Rev. Henry William Ducachet; its date falls on his sixty-second birthday. The occasion and the transfer to Newark are…C050 · Brooklyn Museum Copy · Brooklyn, New YorkOriginal cream publisher-issued boards with black decoration; later plain black cloth rebacking. The original publisher spine is no longer visible.Deirdre E. Lawrence donated the copy to the Brooklyn Museum Libraries & Archives in 2024 in loving memory of her friend and fellow scholar Mary…C051 · University of Delaware Copy · Newark, DelawareLater reddish-brown institutional binding. Rebound for the University of Delaware in 1981.The transfers from Caroline Morgan to Wiedman and from Wiedman to the Swann sale are unrecorded.C052 · University of Edinburgh Copy · Edinburgh, ScotlandOriginal cream publisher-issued boards with black decoration.Edinburgh’s historical printed catalog records the 1858 volume under shelfmark Bk. 5. 20. A handwritten shelflist records its later reclassification…C053 · Schaeffer–United Lutheran Seminary Copy · Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaOriginal brown publisher-issued boards with gold decoration; the gold is severely rubbed.Charles William Schaeffer’s signature establishes ownership. His gift to the seminary is probable; similarly named relatives remain possible donors.…C054 · Library of Congress Copy · Washington, D.C.Later reddish-brown library buckram; the original cover was removed and Library of Congress endpapers installed. Deacidified in June 2007; the fragile original is not served, and a complete digital facsimile is publicly available.The binding and patterned endpapers are later Library of Congress work. Ownership before the Bureau of Education’s 1901 acquisition is unrecorded.C055 · Gilpin–Johnston–Tulane Copy · New Orleans, LouisianaLater black buckram-tape library binding; the status of any original boards beneath it has not been established.Ann Eliza Sibley Johnston Gilpin → William Stoddard Johnston II, May 21, 1859 → unnamed recipient of William S. Johnston's December 1883 gift →…C056 · Hale–Popp Copy · University Park, PennsylvaniaOriginal brown publisher-issued decorated boards (embossed sphinx medallion) survive beneath a later full rebind in brown cloth, stamped "PENNSYLVANIA" and with the full title on the spine. A "The Pennsylvania State College Library" bookplate dates the rebind to before the university's 1953 renaming.Authorial presentation inscription: "Dr. E.W. Hale, from his nephew, Chas. R. Hale (one of the authors), Christmas 1858." A second transcription of…C057 · Faxon–Harris Copy · Lynchburg, VirginiaOriginal brown publisher-issued boards with gold decoration.Authorial presentation inscription: "Mrs. Lucy S. Faxon, from her nephew, Chas. R. Hale (one of the authors), Christmas 1858." A second inscription…C058 · San José State University Copy · San José, CaliforniaLater rebind in black cloth with morocco-grained leather spine and corners, spine gilt-stamped "ROSETTA STONE"; green marbled boards and endpapers. Original publisher's boards do not survive.No presentation inscription, bookplate, or ownership marking has been identified in this copy.C059 · John T. Montgomery Copy · Urbana, IllinoisOriginal cream-and-black publisher-issued decorated boards survive. The front board has a torn corner and chipped edges; the rear board shows scattered foxing.Armorial bookplate: ‘John T. Montgomery,’ with a later pencil C3682. Its female figure, anchor, severed head, and ‘GARDE BIEN’ motto are Montgomery…C060 · Hale Parents Presentation Copy · Melbourne, AustraliaOriginal brown-and-gold publisher-issued decorated boards. The supplied photographs most closely match the census's brown-and-gold binding variant; repository confirmation of the color under neutral light remains desirable.Two separate 1858 inscriptions make this a direct authorial presentation to both of Charles R. Hale's parents. The front-pastedown inscription…C061 · Special Collections Research Center · G. B. Allinson Copy · PhiladelphiaOriginal cream publisher-issued boards with black decoration. This is the only one of Temple's three first-edition copies reported by the repository as retaining its original binding.G. B. Allinson, Philadelphia, January 7, 1859 → unresolved gap → Temple University Libraries → protective box made by L. Cameron, July 1982C062 · Special Collections Research Center · Pawson & Nicholson / Humboldt Copy · PhiladelphiaLater dark full-leather binding with gilt sphinx on the front board, gilt spine compartments, decorated turn-ins, and an impressed PAWSON & NICHOLSON / BINDERS stamp.Original 1858 issue → later Pawson & Nicholson binding and extra-illustration, after March 1859 → unresolved ownership → Dr. John Logue [probable…C063 · Special Collections Research Center · Hamilton Morton Presentation Copy · PhiladelphiaLater plain black cloth or case binding with the spine lettered THE ROSETTA STONE. No original publisher board is visible in the supplied photographs.Alexander Hamilton “Hamilton” Morton → Charles Wm. Van Benthuysen, December 11, 1860, New York → unresolved gap → Temple University LibrariesC064 · Orange Original-Binding Copy · Chicago, IllinoisOriginal orange paper-covered boards printed in black; the dark scan limits assessment of the shade.Miss Effie Lansden → McCormick Theological Seminary, Virginia Library → Newberry Library, gift of 2008C065 · Institutionally Rebound Copy · Baltimore, MarylandLater plain brown cloth institutional binding with gilt spine lettering and library labels. Enoch Pratt staff identified it as the library's standard or “stock” rare-book rebinding rather than an original publisher binding.Unresolved early ownership → Enoch Pratt Free Library, accession 23108 → later Enoch Pratt institutional rebindingC066 · Institutionally Rebound Copy · Shippensburg, PennsylvaniaLater tan cloth institutional library binding with gilt spine lettering. Shippensburg staff identified it as a twentieth-century library binding rather than the original publisher binding.Unresolved early ownership → Ezra Lehman Memorial Library, Shippensburg State College, documented by the institutional bookplate and 1970…C067 · Thomas H. Montgomery Copy · East Stroudsburg, PennsylvaniaOriginal brown publisher-issued boards with gold decoration. The boards are heavily worn, the spine has been repaired with tape, and a number of leaves are loose or detached.Thomas H. Montgomery, January 1859 → unresolved transfer → East Stroudsburg UniversityC068 · Texas Technological College Library Copy · Lubbock, TexasLater full brown buckram institutional binding with gilt title. A ticket identifies Texas Book Bindery, Inc., Dallas, as the binder. This is not an original brown-and-gold publisher binding.No personal presentation inscription, bookplate, or earlier private owner has been identified in the supplied photographs.C069 · “Horace Binney Jr.”–William Seymour Tyler Presentation Copy · Northampton, MassachusettsOriginal cream paper-covered publisher-issued boards with black decoration. The original spine covering is substantially lost, although a small decorated fragment survives. The volume is housed in a custom cloth enclosure.The presenter is independently identified as Horace Binney Jr. by comparison with contemporary Amherst manuscripts.C070 · Pepper–Zantzinger–Robertson Copy · Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaOriginal brown paper-covered publisher-issued boards with gold decoration, heavily rubbed and darkened, with the gold stamping now substantially faded. Rebacked in plain black cloth with new endpapers; the original boards were retained and laid back on.Unidentified parent → “Alexander,” January 18, 1859 → unresolved transfer → Ernest Zantzinger → George Wharton Pepper, documented October 1925 →…C071 · Harold and Mary Jean Hanson Rare Book Collection · Gainesville, FloridaOriginal cardboard boards, brown with gold decoration, with the spine reinforced in black bookcloth and the call number handwritten on it in white paint. Not rebound. The covers are heavily worn, with the decorative design on both boards now largely illegible; the surviving color reads closer to puce, though the decoration itself is confirmed gold.Unresolved early ownership → Florida State Museum → University of Florida Libraries, July 8, 1955C072 · Linderman Library, Special Collections · Bethlehem, PennsylvaniaOriginal cream publisher-issued boards with black decoration.Joseph Wharton [probable; signature comparison] → Mary Lovering Wharton, documented by inscription, 1918 → unresolved gap → Lehigh University…C073 · Penn Museum Library · Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaOriginal brown decorated boards, retained but heavily worn and abraded on both covers. The volume was rebacked or rebound after 1863, evidenced by a fragment of period newspaper used as lining material between the text block and the case.Unresolved early ownership → University of Pennsylvania, Penn Museum Library, acquired 1966 (Eckley Brinton Coxe Fund)C074 · Styberg Library · Evanston, IllinoisLater dark leather binding retaining both original cream-and-black decorated covers. Gilt spine panels and marbled endpapers. Both original boards reportedly survive within the later binding; only the front board is illustrated in the present census.Unresolved early ownership → Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, Styberg Library, received May 29, 2012C075 · Cushwa-Leighton Library · Notre Dame, IndianaOriginal cream-and-black decorated cover panels affixed to later tan buckram. The spine is entirely of the later buckram and does not preserve any part of the original binding. Staff report no significant staining or tears; approximately ten leaves are detached but believed present, and all pages are solidly bound after page 11. The photographed final page appears complete, with no subsequent advertisement leaves present.John Jay Smith, presenter → Peter Force → unresolved gap → Dunbarton College of the Holy Cross → Saint Mary's CollegeC076 · Indiana University · Bloomington, IndianaOriginal cream pictorial boards, retained. The front board carries the standard gilt-and-black sphinx medallion within a lotus-and-hieroglyph border; the rear board carries a matching hieroglyphic and lotus-and-ankh design. The volume is now housed in a later quarter morocco protective case.Albert Rosenthal, presenter (1928) → Louis Stein, Esq. [probable: Louis Stein, 1906–1996, Philadelphia attorney and collector] → unresolved gap →…C077 · Rebound Copy · Minneapolis, MinnesotaRebound in plain buff cloth by the University of Minnesota bindery, November 1954. The original 1858 binding was not preserved; no pictorial boards survive.No presentation inscription identified.C078 · Maria A. Hemphill–Paul Mellon Copy · New Haven, ConnecticutOriginal brown boards, retained, with the standard gilt-and-black Egyptian-motif design.No authorial presentation is established. The volume qualifies as an association copy on the strength of the early owner's inscription described…C079 · New York, New YorkOriginal cream-and-black decorated publisher's boards, retained in a later black-cloth reback with reinforced corners.No presentation inscription, bookplate, or ownership marking has been identified in this copy to date.C080 · Nell Copy · Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaOriginal cream publisher-issued boards with black decoration, retained.The volume bears Henry Wharton and Katharine Johnstone Brinley Wharton’s inscriptions, apparently dated 1858, and their granddaughter Katharine…C081 · William Bowdoin Robins Philomathean Association Copy · George S. Pepper Fund · Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaLater green cloth-and-leather institutional rebinding; original cream boards not retained or not visible beneath the rebind.‘William Bowdoin Robins,’ dated 1860. No authorial presentation is established. The printed acknowledgement leaf is dated August 3, 1858.C082 · Effingham B. Morris Copy · New YorkOriginal cream-and-black decorated publisher-issued boards, retained.The dedication bears ‘Effingham B. Morris,’ ‘U. of Pa,’ ‘1875.’ This is an ownership inscription.C083 · London, EnglandLater plain brown cloth library binding with gilt spine lettering. A modern Walter Newbury binder's label is present. The photographed exterior board is plain and matches the spine; the supplied photographs do not establish that an original decorated publisher board survives beneath or within the later binding.No presentation inscription or ownership mark has been identified in this copy.C084 · Bureau of Ethnology Library Copy · Washington, D.C.Later plain black buckram library rebinding with undecorated boards, gilt-stamped spine title, and shelf label.Unresolved earlier ownership → Library of the Bureau of Ethnology, by 1883 → Smithsonian InstitutionC085 · Rochester, New YorkOriginal cream paper-covered publisher's boards printed in black with Egyptian and floral designs; the original cream spine, titled “ROSETTA STONE” in outlined capitals, is retained.No presentation inscription, ownership inscription, or bookplate has been identified in the supplied photographs.C086 · Longfellow Family / House Library Copy · Cambridge, MassachusettsOriginal brown paper-covered rear board with gold decoration. The original front board was already missing by 1977. The volume was resewn and rebacked in 1978 with a plain brown spine, reusing the earlier endpapers.Longfellow family / Longfellow House library, documented by 1912 → Longfellow House Trust, 1913 → National Park Service, 1973 → conserved and…C087 · Cream Binding · Private CollectionOriginal cream paper-covered publisher's boards printed in black with Egyptian designs. The boards are beveled; the covers and first few leaves are detached.Earlier ownership not yet documented → Private Collection