Nathanael Low (1740-1808). An Astronomical Diary: Or Almanack, For the Year of Christian Aera, 1780. Boston: John Gill, T and J. Fleet, [1779]. 

12mo, 24 pages, signatures [A]⁴ B-C⁴. Eclipse engraving to front wrapper. Self wraps, replaced stitching. FIRST EDITION. Evans No. 16324. Drake, Almanacs 3287. 

Provenance: Lory Lincoln (period ink inscription to front wrapper). 

A Revolutionary War-era almanack by prominent Massachusetts physician and astronomer Dr. Nathanael Low (1740-1808). Low published almanacs annually from 1762 until his death, when the business was continued by his son for another 20 years. Notably, Low served in Captain Joseph Pray's company in the Massachusetts Militia in 1780, contemporaneous with this issue.

This edition features a woodcut illustration of an Eclipse. The illustration is after the diagram by Paul Revere for Stearns' The North-American's Calendar and Gentlemen and Ladies Diary for 1773, illustrating the eclipse on April 7th. (Paul Revere's Engravings, plate no. 72). The diagram here has been simplified, however, removing some of the notations present in the original. 

A near-contemporary ownership inscription further enhances this edition. Lory Lincoln (ca 1795-1886) was a Connecticut native who married Darius Spafford (1791-1875) on 27 June 1814 in Mansfield. Together, they operated a farm and raised three children.  

This is the first edition printed by John Gill and the Fleet family, which was followed by a second edition. Low also produced another edition the same year, printed by  N. Willis, and White and Adams, also of Boston. The almanac was advertised in the 11 November 1779 issue of Boston's Continental Journal. 

RARE. No copies of the 1780 issue have been sold at auction since 1925.  OCLC locates 14 copies of the 1780 Almanack printed by John Gill et al. 

References: 

Clarence S. Brigham. Paul Revere's Engravings. New York: American Antiquarian Society, Atheneum, 1969. 

Milton Drake. Almanacs of the United States. New York: Scarecrow Press, 1962. 

Charles L. Nichols. "Notes on the Almanacs of Massachusetts." Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society. (April 1912). pp. 15-134. 

[Ephemera, Pamphlets, Publications, Booklets, Almanacs] [American Revolutionary War, American Revolution, Founding Fathers, Declaration of Independence, Colonial America, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, James Monroe] [Astronomy, Astronomical History, Space] 

Toned. Dampstain affecting later pages. Replaced stitching with adhesive to rear wrapper at stitching.