John Dabney (1752–1819) was a postmaster, publisher, and bookseller in Salem, Massachusetts, in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He was born in Boston in 1752 to Charles Dabney and Elizabeth Gardner.[1] With Thomas C. Cushing, John Dabney published the Salem Mercury newspaper, 1787-1789.[2][3] In 1790 he married Abigail Mason Peale (1767-1834).[4] Beginning around 1790 he ran the "Salem Book-Store" which offered books for sale or short-term rental;[5][6] customers included William Bentley.[7] Dabney also served as Salem postmaster ca.1792-1815.[8][9][10] He belonged to the North Church in Salem[11] and the Essex Lodge of the Freemasons.[12] Dabney sold the contents of his shop at auction in 1818.[13][14] He died in 1819.[15]
Selected titles in Dabney's bookstore & library
In 1813, Dabney's stock included:[16]
- Aikin's Annual Review and History of Literature
- Bygge's Travels in the French Republic
- Mrs. Chapone's Works
- M.C. Dallas' Morelando
- Charles Didbin's Song Smith; or, Rigmarole Repository
- Sarah Fielding's Cry, a new dramatick fable
- William Godwin's Fleetwood
- T. Harral's Scenes from Life[17]
- Henry Home's Art of Thinking
- William Jay's Sermons
- Lives of Illustrious Seamen
- Richard Parkinson's Tour in America[18]
- Susanna Rowson's Charlotte Temple
- Anna Seward's Life of Dr. Darwin
- Tabitha Tenney's Female Quixotism, or History of Dorcasina Sheldon
- Maria Tharmott's Sans Souci Park[19]
- Mrs. Thicknesse's School for Fashion
- Richard Twiss's Miscellanies
- Walter Scott's Ballads and Lyrical Pieces
See also
References
- ^ "First Centenary of the North Church and Society, in Salem, Massachusetts", Salem: Printed for the Society, 1873, OCLC 3098011
- ^ Joseph T. Buckingham (1850), "Specimens of Newspaper Literature", Boston: Charles C. Little and James Brown, OCLC 1387302
- ^ "Salem Mercury", October 10, 1789
- ^ "Boston Gazette", July 5, 1790
- ^ "Salem Gazette", November 16, 1790
- ^ "Salem Book-Store & Circulating Library", Columbian Centinel, July 7, 1792
- ^ William Bentley (1905), "Diary of William Bentley", Salem, Mass.: Essex Institute
- ^ Joseph B. Felt (1845), "Annals of Salem", 2nd ed., Salem: W. & S.B. Ives
- ^ Table of Post Offices in the United States. Washington City: Post-Master General. 1811.
- ^ "Salem Gazette", October 10, 1815
- ^ Catalogue of the Members of the North Church in Salem, with an Historical Sketch of the Church. Salem: W. & S.B. Ives. 1827.
- ^ William Leavitt (August 1861), "History of the Essex Lodge of Freemasons", Historical Collections of the Essex Institute. Vol. 3, no. 4, hdl:2027/uva.x000958981
- ^ "Boston Daily Advertiser", September 4, 1818
- ^ "Valuable Catalogue of Books being the Extensive Library Belonging to John Dabney, Esq., consisting of between 6 and 7000 volumes in divinity, history, philosophy, travels, biography ... to be sold at auction ... by Jonathan P. Saunders, auctioneer", 1818
- ^ "Essex Register", October 23, 1819
- ^ Catalogue of the Salem Book-Store and Circulating Library. Salem: Dabney. 1813.
- ^ "Scenes of Life: a novel, by Thomas Harral", WorldCat, OCLC 075376808
- ^ "Parkinson, Richard 1748-1815", WorldCat
- ^ "Maria Tharmott", WorldCat
Further reading
Issued by Dabney
- New-England Primer Enlarged. Salem: Printed by E. Draper, for John Dabney. 1791.
- An Address to Farmers. Newburyport: Printed for Dabney. 1796.
- Thomas Barnard, D.D. Minister of the North Church (1796). A Sermon, Delivered at Salem, on March 31, 1796. Salem: Printed by Blunt and March, for John Dabney.
- Catalogs
- Catalogue of Books, for Sale or Circulation, in Town or Country, by John Dabney, at his Book and Stationary Store, and Circulating Library, in Salem. J. Dabney. 1791.
- Additional Catalogue of Books, for Sale or Circulation, in Town or Country, at the Salem Bookstore. Salem: J. Dabney. 1794.
- Catalogue of Books. J. Dabney. 1801.
- Catalogue of the Salem Book-store and Circulating Library. Salem: J. Dabney. 1813.