posted 06-16-2003 07:37 PM            

Edited by Mark B. Letzer & Jean B. Russo. A compilation of research by a large number of historians and authorities. Easy to read and a delight to browse through the pages.

495 pages:

First 100 pages contain essays covering Faris' life work and life in Annapolis, Maryland.

Next 300 pages cover the Diary.
Jan. 1, 1792 through Aug. 9, 1804.

The entries vary from the most brief. "A fine day" to his comments on friends and family and his garden.

An impressive task faithfully transcribed, footnoted and annotated. Embellished with numerous photographs in the sidelines. A glimpse into early American life.

The last chapters illustrate his shop drawings, document the plants grown in his garden, and list an inventory of his possessions upon his death.

Well worth the cost and wait.

Fred

posted 07-01-2003 12:33 PM            

It is a significant contribution in many ways. On first examination, I find of particular interest the shop drawings of Faris. These had been published before by Pleasants and Sill in their Maryland Silversmiths, but here they are matched with those few actual items, produced from those drawings, that could be located. Also, though trade relationships among contemporary silversmiths has been documented in surviving records of many of these craftsmen (Richardson, Revere, etc.), it seems to me noteworthy just how much of the surviving Faris family owned silver was made by other than Faris himself. Also worthy of note is the convincing confirmation of the reassignment of one WF initial mark from William Forbes to to William Faris. I look forward to closer examination, which will be provided by bedtime reading for some time to come.

My only criticism, and it is a relatively minor one, is that reproduction of the in text photographs, while good, could have been improved by a different choice of paper.