55th Annual Delaware Show

THE AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY PRESS English joiner John Head (1688–1754) immigrated to Philadelphia in 1717 and became one of its most successful artisans and merchants. However, his prominence was lost to history until the author’s discovery of his account book at the Library of the American Philosophical Society. A find of great historical importance, Head’s account book is the earliest and most complete to have survived from any cabinetmaker working in British North America or in Great Britain. It chronicles the commerce, crafts, and lifestyles of early Philadelphia’s entire community: its cabinetmaking, glazing, metalworking, property development, agriculture, botany, livestock, transport, foodstuffs, drink, hardware, fabrics, furnishings, household wares, clothing, building materials, and export trade. The Cabinetmaker’s Account: John Head’s Record of Craft and Commerce in Colonial Philadelphia, 1718-1753 Jay Robert Stiefel Memoirs of the American Philosophical Society Volume 271 -- $85 Cloth • 9.5 x 12.25 in. • 320 pp. 100 illustrations, with a comprehensive general index and biographical data ISBN: 978-0-87169-271-9 “John Head’s account book is not only a rare survival but also a document of considerable historic import. Jay Stiefel’s book, The Cabinetmaker’s Account, is an important contribution to historical American writing that handsomely details the life and work of John Head, one of early Philadelphia’s leading furniture craftsmen.” –Donald L. Fennimore, Curator Emeritus Winterthur Museum BOOK ORDERS: Please contact our fulfillment service— American Philosophical Society Fulfillment, P.O. Box 617, Darby, PA 19023 (phone 800-782-3833 or 610-461-6200; fax 610-461-6130). Online orders may be sent to orders@dianepublishing.net. Se e our website for additional recent titles, catalogs, and available backlist: www.amphilsoc.org/publications. 104 South Fifth Street Philadelphia, PA 19106-3387 (Tel) 215-440-3425 (Fax) 215-440-3450 “The John Head account book is the earliest and most complete record of a cabinetmaker’s work to have survived either in North America or in Great Britain. [A] find of great historical significance ... the most comprehensive collection of contemporaneous data on how Colonial Philadelphia artisans and merchants conducted their trades and survived in a barter economy. Stiefel provides us with a detailed and fascinating account.... [T]he present volume is an essential companion....” –Adam Bowett, Chair The Chippendale Society