Beware of a swindler!! New York: J.W. Bell, 1835.
This spectacular broadside documents the accusations of printer Jared W. Bell (1798?-1870) against a former journeyman, James B. Whitney. Bell accuses Whitney, who became a lieutenant commandant in the New York artillery, of embezzling money from Bell’s printing business. Bell was notoriously difficult. In 1821 he got into a street fight over the Hartford Convention and was arrested for blasphemy (he allegedly yelled, “God Almighty was a fool”). Bell was acquitted, but, as evidenced by this broadside, apparently remained a cantankerous New Yorker. Purchased from Thomas Cullen. Ahmanson Foundation Fund.
~ Lauren Hewes
