| Item Description: | Advertised in the Continental journal, Boston, Sept. 27, 1781. - Drake, M. Almanacs, 3313. - English Short Title Catalog, W20838. - Erroneously attributed to David Rittenhouse by Evans. The actual calculator appears to have been Nathan Daboll, who calculated The New England almanack and gentleman's and lady's diary for 1782 (New London, Conn.) under the pseudonym of Edmund Freebetter. The calculations in the eclipse predictions, though somewhat more extensive in the Weatherwise, are otherwise identical to those in the Freebetter. The calendar page calculations for the rising, setting, and phases of the moon are identical throughout, though the calculations for the sun and tides on these pages in Freebetter are fitted to Connecticut rather than Massachusetts. A majority of the astronomical and horological notes on the Freebetter calendar pages are duplicated in Weatherwise. - Evans, 17354. - Publishers' advertisement, p. [2]. - Reproduction of original from British Library. - With one of two editions of the engraved frontispiece, "America triumphant and Britannia in distress", most easily distinguished by the arrangement of the stars in the American flag. In one edition, the top row of three stars is grouped all to the left side, while in the othe the rightmost star is separated by a fold in the flag's fabric. The latter plate is attributed to John Norman in auction catalog 34 (April 26, 1917) of Scott and O'Shaughnessy |
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