A Possibility of New Scholarly Avenues

I am placing this scenario to scholars. Since the patriot printers, Cist and Steiner, translated and printed into German the first printing of the American Declaration of Independence, there could be a possibility that Cist and Steiner translated and printed the same and/or different documents in French and Russian and other languages. If Charles Cist did in fact translate and print the Declaration of Independence into Russian, would it be ironic for an escaped prisoner, who fond freedom in America, to then change his name and then send back to Russia( under the new name Charles Cist) a translated and printed copy of the American Declaration of Independence back to Russia. The ramifications of themes about liberty, imprisonment, and new life are endless. If this did indeed happen, Did the same authorities knew it was the same Charles Jacob Sigismund Thiel (Charles Cist) who escaped from under their control? If a scholar wants something to pursue, perhaps he/she can find other translated and printed forms of the American Declaration of Independence in other languages. A good place to start would be France and former Soviet Union.
Andrew C. Allen 5/29/13
513.638.7140
pewabic34@gmail.com

Follow up on Declaration of Independence article

As I finished reading the article about the first translation and printing of the American Declaration of Independence in German, I went to a family reference guide. Henry M. Cist, the brother of Lewis J. Cist, hand noted in pen all the prices that each autograph and historical paper sold at auction from the Lewis J. Cist collection. The pen notations are on the left hand side of each page in the auction catalog from New York City. I probably do not have the only edition of the auction catalog, but I just might have the only edition that has all the prices from the collection. If this could be of benefit to other scholars, let me know. For example, an autograph of Abraham Lincoln went for twenty-five dollars ($25.00). I am currently checking if a copy of a German edition of the Declaration of Independence is in the auction catalog and, if so, how much it sold for. I am also sharing with scholars that through family stories that have been passed down that some of the collection went to the Smithsonian Institute, many Ivy League Universities along the east coast, private collectors, and European Universities. I will keep this blog posted of further findings.
Andrew C. Allen 5/08/13
513.638.7140
pewabic34@gmail.com

A Historical First

     This is an article that my friend Mr. John H. Trombley found on Charles Cist pertaining to the first generation of the translation and printing in German of the American Declaration of Independence. Just a note from family stories about the family (Lewis J. Cist) collection that was sold at auction in New York City by the executrix, Henry M. Cist, it appears to be a found from the collection that has been in a special rare collection at a college all these years. I wish to thank all the scholars who worked on this article and research . It is a joy to read. Here is the article.

     The First Translation and Printing in German of the American Declaration of Independence

Karl J.R. Arndt
Clark University

     When May E. Olson and I published the first volume of The German Language Press of the Americas, we were hopeful that new evidence of early German-American printing activities would turn up. I had continued to search for hidden documents when I launched the revision of Oswald Seidensticker's The First Century of German Printing in America, in cooperation with Dr. H. Vogt of the University of Gottingen under a grant of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft. I am now able to present a major find which, after carefully weighing the circumstances of its creation, I consider the first printing of the Declaration of Independence in German, to be dated as early as July, 6, 1776.
     The document, now in the special collections section of the Gettysburg College library, is a broadside measuring 16 inches by 12 3/4 inches, on ordinary laid paper without watermark, slightly damaged at the center through inept repair but clearly legible. At the bottom center it has the imprint, "Philadelphia: Gedruckt bey Steiner und Cist, in der Zweyten-strasse." The document was discovered by Werner Tannhof, a bibliographer from the University of Gottingen working for the Seidensticker project, with the help of Nancy Scott, Gettysburg College special collections librarian.
     At first glance a comparison of this document with Henrich Miller's well-known printing on July 9th, shows great similarity, but a closer examination proves that the two printings are from different typesetting from different fonts. The translation in German also vary, although only slightly. These similarities and slight variations can readily be explained because both translations were most likely done by Charles Cist. On the authority of Isaiah Thomas we know that Cist was employed my Miller as his translator and by the printer's statement at the bottom of the broadside we know that Cist had a hand in the publication.
     A sketch of Cist's life and activity in the Dictionary of American Biography informs us that he was born in 1738 in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Monatshefte, Vol. 77, No 2, 1985
0026-9271/85/0002/0138 $01.50/0
copyright 1985 by The Board of Regents of The University of Wisconsin System

     Charles Cist came to America with a degree and skill that he earned from Halle University in Germany. It is very possible that he knew at least three languages, German, Russian, and English.
Andrew C. Allen 5/06/13
513.638.7140
pewabic34@gmail.com