54

containing William Falconer's Shipwreck⁸⁵ bore the im-
print, "Published by David Porter ... Printed for the
publisher by W. Pechin". It is easy to see why a re-
tired sea captain would be interested in bringing out
the narrative poem of the Shipwreck, but it is more
difficult to understand why ten pages of the Life of
Aesop were appended. On March 22, 1797, Porter issued
proposals for printing the English translation of
Benoit de Maillet's Telliamed,⁸⁶

To be issued to subscribers complete and neatly
bound at one dollar and fifty cents, to be paid
for and delivered ... Will be put to press as
soon as 1000 subscribers are obtained.⁸⁷

This scientific-philosophical work, also printed by
Pechin (perhaps this edition - who knows?) is said to
have suggested to Darwin his celebrated theory.⁸⁸ It
must have been a popular work; twenty-seven copies of
it are known to be extant today.

Porter's Observatory commanded an unexcelled view
of the harbor. Porter erected a flag staff, imported
a telescope from London, obtained other perspective
glasses, and advertised a system of communicating quickly
with Baltimore merchants whose ships were entering the
harbor from Chesapeake Bay. Certain ensigns and pennants

85 Appendix A. Imprint bibliography, item 282.

86 Appendix A. Imprint bibliography, item 369.

87 Maryland journal. March 22, 1797.

88 Sabin, Joseph. A dictionary of books relating
to America, v, 11, p. 118.