The Cabinetmaker's Account: John Head's Record of Craft & Commerce in Colonial Philadelphia, 1718-1753, American Philosophical SocietyMemoir 271

English joiner John Head (1688-1754) immigrated to Philadelphia in 1717 and became one of its most successful artisans and merchants. His prominence had been lost to history until the discovery of his account book at the American Philosophical Society. The earliest and most complete account book to have survived from any cabinetmaker working in British North America or in Great Britain, it records thousands of transactions over a 35-year period (1718-1753). This volume represents the definitive interpretation of the Head’s account book. Profusely illustrated and with a comprehensive general index, it is an essential reference work on 18th-century Philadelphia, its furniture and material culture, and a detailed social history of that era’s artisans and merchants.