1802 Printed Almanack with Manuscript Margin Notes and Post-Revolutionary Diary Entries by a Columbia County, New York Citizen, Including Local and Historical References and Curious Coded Language

On offer is a printed almanac from 1802 titled Stoddard's Diary: OR THE COLUMBIA ALMANACK, For the Year of our LORD 1802, by Andrew Beers.

The Almanack contains 38 printed pages and 20 handwritten pages, which constitute a short diary or journal, kept by a man from Claverack, Columbia County, New York. The published content combined with the manuscript additions offer an outstanding glimpse into what people considered important information at the turn of the 19th century. 

The Almanack, which is about the "... usual and necessary in Compositions of this Nature, many Things new, useful and entertaining," contains printed sections with notes on human anatomy, interest tables, lunar almanac for each month of the year, a list of officers of the Government of the United States and the State of New York and several essays. 

The published essays include Respect and Deference Due to the Aged, The Fortunate Hindoo, The Sham Ghost, and What Industry Will Accomplish.

Also included are advertisement for the Almanack author's new Land Office and Surveying business. 

The owner of the Almanack would have authored the 20 handwritten pages, though their identity is unknown. The pages contain journal entries, which are brief and to the point, and place them somewhere in Columbia County, NY. Some excerpts:

"Died Arron Coffin" [Feb 13, 1802].

"Thomas Fotheringham Nephew to Thomas Fotheringham Esq died after a long, tedious and most Painful illness" [Feb 25, 1802].

"Derek Ten Brock son of Jeremiah Ten Brock in a fit of Insanity struck a Negro Boy about 6 years of age and hit him outright and dangerously wounded" [ ] Mr. Ten Brock his father" [Mar 12, 1802].

The diarist also notes a general election for Congress in April, 1802. Excerpts of some historically relevant entries: 

"Died Mrs. Martha Washington, widow of the late Gen'l George Washington" [May 22, 1802].

"Gen'l Robt V Rensselaer was interred at Claverak with Military Honors" [Sep 13, 1802].

[Historical Note: Robert Van Rensselaer was a Colonel and later General in the Albion County Militia and fought on the American side in the American Revolution. He later served in the New York state assembly].

A curious addition is the inclusion of what appears to be a code: "the C483stz66its48 Frg3qitz 82362dfg47th 2d261 wigz" [Feb 14th, 1802]. A similar coded notation appears for the entry of Oct 17th.

This 1802 Almanack turned journal was kept at a time when many of the chief actors of the American Revolution were still alive and the Republic was still quite young. It would be an excellent resource for a historian, especially on studying America at the turn of the 19th century.

Condition: Paper bound, it measures 6 1/2 inches by 4 inches. The paper is in very good condition. There is a small burn scar on the leading edge of the pages but it is limited to the blank margin area. The 20 handwritten pages are about 40% complete.