AN ASTRONOMICAL DIARY: OR, ALMANACK FOR THE YEAR OF OUR LORD CHRIST, 176

Boston: Printed and sold by W. M'Alpine and J. Fleming, 1765. [24]pp., including a Revere engraving on p.[17]. Stitched. Titlepage soiled, text dampstained throughout. Outer margin chipped, not affecting text. Inner margin of first leaf torn, affecting approximately 12 characters. A good copy. First edition of a notable publication, containing the first Paul Revere engraving to appear in an almanac. The engraving is a "Representation of the above Eclipse," described in the text above the image. "In Revere's Day Book, under date of September 28, 1765, is the following charge: 'Messr McAlpine & Fleming Dr / to Cutting 12 half figures at 2d / 0-2-0 / to Cutting a Leding Plate for the Eclipse of the Sun / 1-0-0" - Brigham. The image gives the detailed positions of the moon, sun, and earth during an eclipse.

This is one in a long series of almanacs by the Ames family, begun by Dr. Nathaniel Ames in 1726 and continued by his son, also named Nathaniel Ames, who took over writing the almanacs after his father died in 1764 and continued until the beginning of the Revolutionary War. Ames was a successful doctor, ardent Anti-Federalist and local politician. Ames denies the claims of a rival almanac maker, Joseph Willard, that he had not planned on printing an almanac after his father's death:

"I propose to make my appearance before you annually, notwithstanding what some obscure persons would insinuate to the contrary...for they have not only made use of my name, to impose upon the public, by prefixing it to their counterfeit almanacks, but have even advertised that I was not about to publish an almanack for this year, which the public knows to be false."

In response to the Stamp Act, Ames suggests that when the British government learns of the needs of the colonists, that they will respond to their demands. DRAKE 3147. EVANS 9896. ESTC W38327. BRIGHAM, PAUL REVERE'S ENGRAVINGS, p.133. O'NEAL 96.