BARON FRIEDRICH WILHELM VON STEUBEN'S GERMAN-ENGLISH DICTIONARY
A German-English dictionary attrributed to General Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben. The volume is: "A Compleat English Dictionary, oder vollstandiges Englisch=Deutsches Worterbuch" by Nathan Bailey and Theodor Arnold (Leipzig und Zullichau: Buchandlung das Wansenhauses Nathanael Sigism. Frommann.) 1761. It is comprised of two volumes in one: 808pp. (German to English) and 588pp. (English to German). Bound in brown leather with seven raised hubs on the spine, covers and spine well worn, contents lightly foxed, frontis portrait of Bailey repaired with very old cello tape. The front flyleaf and pastedown trace the ownership of this book in von Steuben's family from Peter von Steuben in 1805 (44 years after the book was published) to Mina von Steuben in 1917, 46 years before her death. Dr. Peter Martin von Steuben (1748-1814) was the general's first cousin who had settled in Easton, Pa. in 1783 and it appears was his sole blood relative in this country. He signs on the top of the flyleaf and adds his location: "Mount Bingham Sept. the 12th 1805". His wife Susan Shimer von Steuben (1776-1863) has signed her name on the front pastedown opposite. Shimer had been previously married to James Bingham (1748-1798), a landowner and brother of William Bingham, the enormously wealthy senator, general, and friend of George Washington. A year or two after James Bingham's death, Peter von Steuben married Susan Shimer who inherited her deceased husband's 600 acres estate - presumably "Mount Bingham" where von Steuben signed this volume. Beneath Peter's name is the signature of his son, Augustus Ludwig von Steuben (1804-1887), who had been named after his famous ancestor, and he dates his signature "Febry 13th 1836". There then follows affixed to the page an attestation, signature and date by Augustus' son, Simon Driesbach von Steuben (1833-1909). The worn pencil text reads: "This book was used by the General to learn English so he could train the troops." The last signature, appearing at the bottom, is that of Mina L. von Steuben (1874-1963) who adds: "Hecktown, Pa. Nov. 15, 1917". The paper bearing Simon's attestation at one time just barely covered a tiny part of Mina's signature. We speculate that Mina obtained her father's dated signature and added the attestation in her hand before pasting it to the page just above her own signature, keeping the chain of von Steubens "signing" the volume intact. The volume bears no ink notations within, nor would any such marks be expected as reference books were highly valued in colonial America. There are, however, later notes in various hands on the last page showing the difference in years between 1761 and several years in the mid-1900s. There would be no conceivable reason for an academic German-English dictionary published 44 years earlier to descend within the von Steuben family for at least 112 years unless it was of great importance. Shimer's family had been established in eastern Pennsylvania for many decades before this book was published, so they had no need to own this volume, let alone keep it for decades. If they had a need for such a dictionary, a far more practical edition in the local vernacular, a much less expensive American edition, could be readily purchased antwhere. Mina was the family's geneaologist and she was a recognized historian in her own right. In that light, her addition of her father's "attestation" is not disconcerting. We also believe that Peter von Steuben simply dated and signed this book at the same time as other volumes in his library. The dictionary is accompanied by two books presented to Mina von Steuben by political notables, includes: "The Yorktown Sesquicentennial 1931" by Congressman Schuyler Otis Bland [Washington: Government Printing Office], 1932. 382pp. 8vo. in blue cloth, with three letters and a franked postal cover from Bland who presented the book to von Steuben, with her ownership inscription and signed bookplate, along with "The Part the U.S.S. Von Steuben Played in The Great War" by Logan E. Russell, signed by the author with bound-in types signed note, a privately printed 108pp, 8vo. history of the vessel, formerly the German "Kronprinz" and seized for U.S. Navy use, this volume also bearing Ms. von Steuben's ownership signature and bookplate. With original and copy of letters of provenance. Three pieces.