Ledger of Shipping Receipts from Boston Merchant William Blair Townsend, 1744-1768, Boston, 9.75" x 4.75". About one-fou...

Description

This ledger offers historical insight into the bustling North Atlantic trading system, which operated during the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. Within this trading system, European goods were shipped to Africa, where they were traded for slaves. From Africa, the slaves were shipped to the Americas, where the ships were emptied and loaded with lumber, fish, sugar, molasses, and rum and then sent back to Europe. In the 1740s, Boston's port played an important role as a North American hub in this trading system. William Blair Townsend (1732-1778) graduated from Harvard in 1741 and became a well-known Boston merchant dealing in diverse goods.

On the front free endpaper is written, "William Blair Townsend/ Domini/ 1744." Oblong suede boards. Cover and edge designs blind stamped and in black (black mostly faded). Spine in four compartments with raised bands. All edges stained red.