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