DUKES & NANTUCKET COUNTIES --  The early days of Dukes County and Nantucket County, MA, and their various island communities, are recalled through a mixture of colorful tales and factual data in this NEW 28 Page Booklet, reprinted primarily from two hard-to-find books: the 1839 edition of Historical Collections of Massachusetts by John Warner Barber, and Massachusetts, a Guide to its Places and People, a WPA project. The spiral-bound booklet is printed one-sided on 60# paper, with the print enlarged for easier reading. A sheet of clear vinyl has been added to protect the front cover.

   INSERTED IN THE BOOKLET is a copy of the Map of Massachusetts which accompanied the Barber book. The map is printed in black ink on natural parchtex paper. ILLUSTRATIONS include: Lighthouse at Gay Head, Chilmark, Martha's Vineyard; the Eastern View of Edgartown; Northern View of Edgartown; Northern View at Holmes' Hole, East Tisbury; View of Nantucket (full page); and the Athenaeum at Nantucket. Most are about 1/3 page in size.

   The various places mentioned include: Martha's Vineyard, Chappequiddick (Mount Aldworth), Elizabeth Islands, Noman's Land, Gay Head (Dover Cliff), Lambert's Cove, old Plymouth plantation, New Bedford, Edgartown (Whitson's Bay/Oldtown), Chilmark, Tisbury (Middletown), Onkatomka, the Ram Islands, Nashawn,Wepecket Islands, Pasque Island, Nashawenna, Cattahunk, Penequese, Gull Island, Squilnocket Point, Holmes' Hole, Nantucket, Muskeeket, Tuckernuck, the Gravelly Islands, Coetue, Brant Point, Siasconset, Sancoty Head, Sherburne, Gosnold, Oak Bluffs, and Menemsha.

   The Barber history covers the development of this area until about 1839, while excerpts from the WPA book, give a nostalgic glimpse from a 1940 vantage point, including interesting historical notes, especially as they relate to sightseeing possibilities.

   The many and diverse topics in the booklet include:the First Settlers; Indian Encounters and Fables; Place Names; Various Jurisdictions; Revolutionary War Hardships; Forced Neutrality in War of 1812; Sugar Loaf, a bottomless pond, Devil's Bridge, and other physical features; Educational institutions on Nantucket, Whaling and other Industries, a Corn and Beans Ballot, Bum-Boating, How Frozen Fish Saved a Town, and other interesting bits of history and trivia.

   The booklet has no index, but names mentioned in the 1839 section include:  Bartholomew Gosnold, Martin Pring, Capt. Thomas Dermer, William, Earl of Sterling. James Forcett, Thomas Mayhew, Rev. Ralph Thacher, William Holmes, Andred Boardman, Jonathan Smith, Joseph Amos (an Indian preacher), Simon Johnson, Zacheus Hauwassowee, Pease, Vincent, Norton & Trapp (early Edgartown settlers), Gov. Francis Lovelace, Jonathan Dunham, Samuel Wiswall, John Newman, Samuel Kingsbury, Joseph Thaxter, Joseph Torrey, Nathaniel Hancock, George Damon, Asa Morse, Nymphas Hatch, Admiral Sir Isaac Coffin, Thomas Macy, Edward Starbuck, James Coffin, John Daget (John Dagget), John Smith, Tristram Coffin, Nathaniel Starbuck, Richard Swaine, Thomas Look, Thomas Bernard, Robert Bernard, Peter Coffin, James Coffin, Christopher Hussey, Robert Pike, Stephen Greenleaf, John Swain, Thomas Coleman, John Bishop, Richard Gardner, Joseph Gardner, Joseph Coleman, William Worth, Peter Folger (grandfather of Benjamin Franklin), Eleazer Folger, John Gardner, Samuel Stretor, Nathaniel Wier, Ichabod Paddock, and Zacheus Macy.

   Among the famous and not-so-famous names mentioned in the 1940 section are:  William M. Wood, Capt. Kidd, Professor Louis Agassiz, Leaf Ericson, Walter Prichard Eaton, Joseph Dagget, Experience Mayhew, Parnel Manter, Maria Allen, Polly Dagget, and Maria Mitchell (astronomer).

Wouldn't this make a unique gift?