New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1904-02-03
4 NOTED BOOKSELLER.
The Life Of an American in London

~r.sorp on rzr,lrserr,l FRANKLIN STEVENS
By . Nlauvie Fem ILLUSTRATED. Inv u -
London Printed al the 'his"llA Ii19S -'' -
rate di7trihution-
Mr.. Fem has told. IL an informal discursiNe
Stale. the story ~ q career which seems oe-
cIdedly uneventful if tried ~ the usual stand
ards Of biography but in which We ere bound
20 ind a certain interest # We lave any con
Germ a. all tor the history OF bookselhng. Inc
lrte Benjamin Franklin Stevens won an aolains
place In that history, partly through his pos
eession Of buEinessIke traits and his Intelligent
execution ~ the commissions given him; parity
through the force 81 his personality.
when he was pursuing his studies NJ burning
ton. in 1884 be wrote 10 his parents asking
they knew Of any business in which he could
make money. whether 10 be a lawyer or
blacksmith" he asked. "a doctor or gristmih
tender. minister or = shoemaker. a farmer or
member o. Congress. Jockey IN jackknives or
:. town uallper-0lease advise-in each class
tbere - room ,or others" He had. at that time
no strong predsQosition toward any calling
and ne drIncd into bookselling. An eloer
brother was engaged IN that trade IN London
ana BENJAMIN. after leaving college, acted as
his agent in New-York. Presently he found
himself more deeply interested In his work. ana
f. a comparatively short time crossed the AZ
a
business Rapidlv as time went on. he de-
VeIoped irto an enthusiastic bookseller. loving
lis work and proftsng by all the literary in
nucnccs that enlanate from it-for the right
man His first great enterprise had an un-
Fortunate termination. The brothers had the
Ifu.r poidt library 70 sell and anticipated every
good thing from the affair. but the books per-
ished in a fire upon the premises OF me
aucrioneer. The property had not been insured,
and Stevens was. % course. in distress. but ne
was not discouraged. and. moreover. fate was
thereafter more amiahle. In 1866 he was ap-
rointed 6fsna.cn agent Of the United states
government at London an office which brought
him fnto relations with many high officials and
naturally increased his prestige as a bookseller.
FIe had a passion for the study 81 Americana.
he dealt In his class ~ literature. and he gave
q great deal Of his time 10 independent re-
search in IT, These explorations bore fruit In
volumes Of high value 70 historians and stu
dents His best monument is the series or
''Fscsimiles of Manuscripts In European Ar
chives Relating to America" which he produced
IN twenty-five stately folios. beginning the task
in 1855 and carrying il on thereafter with IN
Tagging energy. it is a great work 81 its KIND
Realizing the importance to the scholar Of the
original manuscript, and realizing. moreover
how difficult ii ordinarily is for the historian
use al first hand Of these precious sources he re
solved to do away, once and for all, with the OBJ
stacIes 10 labor in this field at least in so far as
one important province was concerned. The
kim OF material which he extracted from the
archives in which he delved is well indicated In
e brief passage which he wrote himself He
says:
These facsinllles Of civil. confidential dplo-
matte and political papers during the period OF
the American Revolution comprise many
hitherto unpublished letters or Or frahkllh'
Sras Deane William Carmichael Arthur Lee
and other Americans IN Paris with the French
government mass 81 consequence 40
dressed 10 William Eden tafterward Lord Auck-
land. as Under Secretary Of State. with curious
letters Of informants and spies Of various ranks
in society: letters Of De Reaumarchais. lie Kay
De Challruont Baron De Kalb and other French
men. the original almost unknown, CORE
Epondence Of the British commissioners Who IN
HIS went 10 America to negotiate peace with
Congress while the American commissioners
were AT the same time carrying on negotiations
in Paris. thar Of the Marquis de Lafayette with
Count de- NerRennes and others; the letters OF
Lord Stormont. the English Ambassador al
Paris. never hefOre published; papers relating 70
the capture Of Henry Laurens and his sojourn in
the Tower OF London; many Of General Sir
Henry Clinton's letters. etc
The Hat could be heightened almost indeh-
nitely Indeed the mere mass Of historical evil
dence accumulated by Mr.. Stevens is truly i'm
posing and he added. OF course, 10 its value by
the workmanIke manner in which he presented
Il Thorough" was his watchword. In the
vast Catalogue Index ~ Manuscripts in the
Archives Of England. France. Holland and
Spain relating 10 America. 1853 TO 1888" which
he complied he enumerated as many as $1,000
documents. lie never NEGLECTED his bookselling
business. and as dispatch agent he punctili-
ously fulfilled his duties In the latter capacity.
by the WAY. he had some piquant experiences.
as IN 1871. when Paris i'm the hands Of the
Communists. and he had to carry letters into
the city for the United States Minister. But the
lines in the portrait drawn by Mr.. Fem which
raen most characteristic Of this sturdy An1eri-
can are those telling Of his deep delight In his
toriCal research.