John Dabney

John Dabney (1752–1819) was a postmaster, publisher, and bookseller in Salem, Massachusetts, in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He was born in Boston in 1752 to Charles Dabney and Elizabeth Gardner.^[1] With Thomas C. Cushing, John Dabney published the Salem Mercury newspaper, 1787-1789.^[2][3] In 1790 he married Abigail Mason Peale (1767-1834).^[4] Beginning around 1790 he ran the "Salem Book-Store" which offered books for sale or short-term rental;^[5][6] customers included William Bentley.^[7] Dabney also served as Salem postmaster ca.1792-1815.^[8][9][10] He belonged to the North Church in Salem^[11] and the Essex Lodge of the Freemasons.^[12] Dabney sold the contents of his shop at auction in 1818.^[13][14] He died in 1819.^[15]

Selected titles in Dabney's bookstore & library

In 1813, Dabney's stock included:^[16]

Aikin's Annual Review and History of Literature Bygge's Travels in the French Republic Mrs. Chapone's Works M.C. Dallas' Morelando Charles Didbin's Song Smith; or, Rigmarole Repository Sarah Fielding's Cry, a new dramatick fable

William Godwin's Fleetwood T. Harral's Scenes from Life[17] Henry Home's Art of Thinking William Jay's Sermons Lives of Illustrious Seamen Richard Parkinson's Tour in America[18] Susanna Rowson's Charlotte Temple

Anna Seward's Life of Dr. Darwin Tabitha Tenney's Female Quixotism, or History of Dorcasina Sheldon Maria Tharmouth's Sans Souci Park[19] Mrs. Thicknesse's School for Fashion Richard Twiss' Miscellanies Walter Scott's Ballads and Lyrical Pieces

References

Catalogue of the Salem Book-store and Circulating Library, 1813

1. First Centenary of the North Church and Society, in Salem, Massachusetts, Salem: Printed for the Society, 1873, OCLC 3098011
2. Joseph T. Buckingham (1850), Specimens of Newspaper Literature, Boston: Charles C. Little and James Brown, OCLC 1387302
3. Salem Mercury, October 10, 1789
4. Boston Gazette, July 5, 1790
5. Salem Gazette, November 16, 1790
6. "Salem Book-Store & Circulating Library", Columbian Centinel, July 7, 1792
7. William Bentley (1905), Diary of William Bentley, Salem, Mass.: Essex Institute
8. Joseph B. Felt (1845), Annals of Salem (2nd ed.), Salem: W. & S.B. Ives
9. Table of Post Offices in the United States. Washington City: Post-Master General. 1811.
10. Salem Gazette, October 10, 1815
11. Catalogue of the Members of the North Church in Salem, with an Historical Sketch of the Church. Salem: W. & S.B. Ives. 1827.
12. William Leavitt (August 1861), "History of the Essex Lodge of Freemasons", Historical Collections of the Essex Institute 3 (4)
13. Boston Daily Advertiser, September 4, 1818
14. Valuable Catalogue of Books being the Extensive Library Belonging to John Dabney, Esq., consisting of between 6 and 7000 volumes in divinity, history, philosophy, travels, biography ... to be sold at auction ... by Jonathan P. Saunders, auctioneer, 1818
15. Essex Register, October 23, 1819
16. Catalogue of the Salem Book-Store and Circulating Library. Salem: Dabney. 1813.
17. "Scenes of Life: a novel, by Thomas Harral", WorldCat
18. "Parkinson, Richard 1748-1815", WorldCat
19. "Maria Tharmott", WorldCat

Further reading

Issued by Dabney

• New-England Primer Enlarged. Salem: Printed by E. Draper, for John Dabney. 1791.
• An Address to Farmers. Newburyport: Printed for Dabney. 1796.
• Thomas Barnard, D.D. Minister of the North Church (1796). A Sermon, Delivered at Salem, on March 31, 1796. Salem: Printed by Blunt and March, for John Dabney.

Catalogs

• Catalogue of Books, for Sale or Circulation, in Town or Country, by John Dabney, at his Book and Stationary Store, and Circulating Library, in Salem. J. Dabney. 1791.
• Additional Catalogue of Books, for Sale or Circulation, in Town or Country, at the Salem Bookstore. Salem: J. Dabney. 1794.
• Catalogue of Books. J. Dabney. 1801.
• Catalogue of the Salem Book-store and Circulating Library. Salem: J. Dabney. 1813.