Popular Books
The books listed below are those that were most popular among Library members during the years covered by the first charging ledger, 1789-1792. It provides a fascinating look at reading activity in 18th-century New York City, featuring titles and authors both canonical and nearly forgotten.
The number to the right of each title is the number of circulations recorded in the ledger. Click on book titles for more information, including fuller titles, links to pdfs of the Library’s 1789, 1791, 1792, or 1793 catalogs if the book appears therein, and a local note that indicates whether the book is still in the Library collection. If the book remains in the collection, a link will take the user to its cataloging record. Each book page also includes the circulation history of the title. Click on the borrower name for more information on the person.
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Beatties Essays (16)
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Garricks Plays (16)
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Hooles Metastatio (16)
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Blackstones Comm (16)
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Johnsons Table Talk (16)
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Psalmanazars Life (16)
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Gillies Frederick (16)
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Idler (16)
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Forrests Voyage (15)
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Portlock & Dixon (15)
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Clinton & Cornwallis (15)
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Fordyces Addresses (15)
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Julia de Gramont (15)
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Cooks Voyage World (15)
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Newtons Milton (15)
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Cellinis Life (15)
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Mary Queen of Scots (15)
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Voltaires Russia (15)
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Journals of Congress (15)
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Bonze (15)
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Free Thinker (15)
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Spy (15)
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Coombe Wood (14)
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Freneaus Works (14)
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Letters from Italy (14)
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Chambers Dictionary (14)
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Arbuthnots Works (14)
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Smiths Thucydides (14)
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Belisarius (14)
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Thorntons Plautus (14)
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Dion Cassius (14)
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Chauncys Salvation (14)
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Temples Works (14)
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Homes Sketches (14)
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Goldsmiths Greece (14)
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Van Brughs Plays (14)
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Myrtle (14)
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Force of Love (14)
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Paris in Miniature (14)
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Marshalls Travels (13)
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Guthries Grammar (13)
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Solyman & Almena (13)
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Loveills Adventures (13)
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Robinsons Navigation (13)
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Beauties of Swift (13)
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Forsters Voyages (13)
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Aubreys Miscel (13)