My last visit to Wayne State University at the Purdy/ Kresge library was a very positive experience. The librarians there are very supportive of scholarly work and encourage the use of library equipment. They even took time to listen to my research and viewed this blog. Numerous avenues were found pertaining to the life of Charles Cist. I can tell my father new information about his life in USA that no one in the family knew about. There is a journal of hot air balloon rides that is in the rare book archives at Indian University, I found documentation of financial records of Cist and Steiner, information about a loosely knit network of early colonial printers formed by Benjamin Franklin, papers 1776-1805 (Historical Society of Pennsylvania -Johann Friedrich Ernst, 1748-1805).
Mr. Boyd Childress wrote a fantastic article in the Bibliographical Society of America. I need to arrange the material to correlate with my blog. His information will be in future blogs.
Part of my blogging experience is to update my reference skills by reviewing the APA reference- sixth edition and the MLA references- seventh edition. It is helpful to do as much work as possible before you go to the library just because other scholars want to use the same equipment.
Andrew C. Allen / June 13, 2013
513.638.7140
pewabic34@gmail.com
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
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
Andrew C. Allen 5/29/13
513.638.7140
pewabic34@gmail.com
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
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
Andrew C. Allen 5/08/13
513.638.7140
pewabic34@gmail.com
Monday, May 6, 2013
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
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
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
The Escape Continued
Charles had another experience that the guards did not know about. He recalled that his mother use to take him to the reptile house at the little zoo when you was young. Thursdays were his favorite visits, because that was feeding day for the snakes. He remembered from his youth that it took about fifteen minutes for a snake to strike and slowly gnaw a mouse into its dislocated jaw to swallow. A rattlesnake cannot bite if it is in the middle of eating a field mouse, or rat. Charles suspected the dead man from the cell was in too much in a hurry and could not get his hand out quickly enough to avoid the poisonous bite.
The guards must have fed the snake when Charles was outside during his afternoon fresh air excursions. That is the only explanation he could think of as to how the snake survived the winter months. The riddle was making sense. He knew he had to find a mouse to feed the rattlesnake before the guards gave it a meal.
Charles thought of a clever way to catch a field mouse. He would lie down in the grass and pray that a mouse would smell the aroma from the smelly cheese in his pocket. He did this for weeks. Finally, as he lay on his back he took a cup from his cell room and slowly lowered it onto a field mouse that was chewing the stale cheese from his pocket. Now he had another key to the safe, but a few questions remained. One, what was behind the rattlesnake in a red velvet bag? Two, how was he going to get past the guard and enter the streets of St. Petersburg? He contemplated this for a week.
Later, the guard slipped some timely news to Charles. The stage coach to Siberia was leaving on Monday, and he had orders to put Charles on the coach. This was certain death, because if you leave for Siberia you do not return. The government puts you in a work camp and works you until you literally fall down to your death. He decided to find out what was in the red velvet bag on Sunday night, the beginning of a new week. A new chapter was soon to be written. It was sink, swim, or be bitten. Charles opened the first key, the wooden horizontal panel. Then the mouse dropped into the box and the snake swallowed the creature giving Charles about fifteen minutes to remove the red velvet bag from the box that housed the snake which was the second key. The third key stumped Charles for a long time that evening. He remembered what the royal court told him just before his incarceration, that HRH Catherine the Great would not tell him the answer. He knew that what the Queen said was rule. Charles went to the door and opened it. Looking back inside the prison cell, he noticed a full moon resting perfectly inside the frame of the window on the south wall. He knew it was about two in the morning by now. It was time to see the contents of the velvet bag from the snake pit which contained all the gems that belonged to Charles in the first place! He smiled and laughed as he tiptoed past the guard. Then he paused knowing that if he left quietly, he would surely get the guard to gather his team of guards to chase after Charles. He could not believe what he was going to do. Without saying a word, he gently got down on his knees and woke the guard. He quickly took one of the smaller diamonds and placed it in the guard's hand and clasped all fingers together into a ball. He was betting that the royal court would let him go free if he had the smarts to retrieve his own gem collection. The guard smiled and went back to sleep without making a sound.
Charles had just minutes to maneuver around town to get to the station before sunrise. He knew the stage coach routes and times. It was this time during his escape that he changed his name from Charles Jacob Sigismund Thiel to Charles Cist. He took the C from Charles, the J in Latin became an I, S from Sigismund, T from Thiel, thus the surname Cist was born. This proved to be beneficial because the authorities were looking for Mr. Thiel that ends with a T. The new name Cist shuffled him to different alphabetical groups when rounded up during check points through out Europe looking for fugitives. (My father mentioned that any person in the world is directly descended from Charles Cist)
Andrew C. Allen 4/16/13
513.638.7140
pewabic34@gmail.com
The guards must have fed the snake when Charles was outside during his afternoon fresh air excursions. That is the only explanation he could think of as to how the snake survived the winter months. The riddle was making sense. He knew he had to find a mouse to feed the rattlesnake before the guards gave it a meal.
Charles thought of a clever way to catch a field mouse. He would lie down in the grass and pray that a mouse would smell the aroma from the smelly cheese in his pocket. He did this for weeks. Finally, as he lay on his back he took a cup from his cell room and slowly lowered it onto a field mouse that was chewing the stale cheese from his pocket. Now he had another key to the safe, but a few questions remained. One, what was behind the rattlesnake in a red velvet bag? Two, how was he going to get past the guard and enter the streets of St. Petersburg? He contemplated this for a week.
Later, the guard slipped some timely news to Charles. The stage coach to Siberia was leaving on Monday, and he had orders to put Charles on the coach. This was certain death, because if you leave for Siberia you do not return. The government puts you in a work camp and works you until you literally fall down to your death. He decided to find out what was in the red velvet bag on Sunday night, the beginning of a new week. A new chapter was soon to be written. It was sink, swim, or be bitten. Charles opened the first key, the wooden horizontal panel. Then the mouse dropped into the box and the snake swallowed the creature giving Charles about fifteen minutes to remove the red velvet bag from the box that housed the snake which was the second key. The third key stumped Charles for a long time that evening. He remembered what the royal court told him just before his incarceration, that HRH Catherine the Great would not tell him the answer. He knew that what the Queen said was rule. Charles went to the door and opened it. Looking back inside the prison cell, he noticed a full moon resting perfectly inside the frame of the window on the south wall. He knew it was about two in the morning by now. It was time to see the contents of the velvet bag from the snake pit which contained all the gems that belonged to Charles in the first place! He smiled and laughed as he tiptoed past the guard. Then he paused knowing that if he left quietly, he would surely get the guard to gather his team of guards to chase after Charles. He could not believe what he was going to do. Without saying a word, he gently got down on his knees and woke the guard. He quickly took one of the smaller diamonds and placed it in the guard's hand and clasped all fingers together into a ball. He was betting that the royal court would let him go free if he had the smarts to retrieve his own gem collection. The guard smiled and went back to sleep without making a sound.
Charles had just minutes to maneuver around town to get to the station before sunrise. He knew the stage coach routes and times. It was this time during his escape that he changed his name from Charles Jacob Sigismund Thiel to Charles Cist. He took the C from Charles, the J in Latin became an I, S from Sigismund, T from Thiel, thus the surname Cist was born. This proved to be beneficial because the authorities were looking for Mr. Thiel that ends with a T. The new name Cist shuffled him to different alphabetical groups when rounded up during check points through out Europe looking for fugitives. (My father mentioned that any person in the world is directly descended from Charles Cist)
Andrew C. Allen 4/16/13
513.638.7140
pewabic34@gmail.com
Monday, April 15, 2013
The Escape
Charles Jacob Sigismund Thiel had encountered a reversal of fortune. He had served as a doctor of medicine in the royal court of Catherine the Great in the mid 1700's. Now he found himself in a dark, damp, musty, prison cell in St. Petersburg, Russia. Fortunately, his youth and academic life at Halle University exposed him to live "outside the comfort zone" experiences that enabled him to survive his present situation inside a Russian cell.
The royal court had confiscated his gem collection; mostly diamonds, emeralds, and rubies. His prized possession, an eighteen carat diamond that was scheduled to be purchased for Catherine the Great had been confiscated during the coup. It was easier for the palace police just to take the collection which included thirty-seven diamonds totaling two hundred eighty-five carats. He wanted his collection back.
Riddles were more prevalent in Charles' day of the mid 1700's. The royal court gave Charles a riddle and if solved, he could use it to gain his freedom, collection, and a new life. If he failed; death. There were three keys to unlock the safe were the Halle diamond was kept. Charles nicknamed the diamond after his Alma mater, Halle University. Could he do it?
As he sat in his jail cell, he noticed a human skeleton in the corner of the dimly lit room, and when he paced the floor he heard rattling sounds appeared, but from where? He was let outside in the afternoon three times a week. After weeks of this routine and thinking about his surroundings and controlled timed schedules, he thought more about the riddle and how the dead body was a sign from the cell. The human carcass would be the first key to unlocking the safe. After an entire season of cold winter blahs, a guard inadvertently showed Charles a mouse that he kept in his pocket during the winter months. The mouse would become the second key to unlocking the safe. All of this information was in Charles's head, but he made no connections until the sunlight poured in from the window up above the south wall. The sun position had to go through an entire season before he could begin to put the pieces of the puzzle together. By this time, Charles had lost many pounds and lost strength in his left arm. On a Thursday afternoon, rays of light beamed close to the skeleton and he noticed the wall had a slight bump in it. Charles moved the bones away from the wall. Fresh foot-marks were on the floor. All this had become obvious because of the sunlight. He was stooped. Charles picked away at the wall and instead of peeling away and peeling downward, he picked at the wall and pulled towards him. After many turns, this repeated motion revealed a horizontal wooden panel that was painted black. This explained why it blended into the darkness. Over time, the moisture had warped the wood to expose the box. As he pulled the horizontal panel towards him, a lever pulled a box down to the ground. The box had a black hole on top of it and a clear panel in which you could peer into it. A rattlesnake coiled dead center stared at Charles. From his observations, he could see that the coiled mesh on top of the box served as a mechanism. It became clear to him after awhile that if you place your hand in the coiled mesh from above and tried to remove your hand quickly, the mesh would tighten and the hand would stay suspended long enough for the rattlesnake to strike a deadly, poisonous bite. Charles assumed this is what had happened to the dead gentleman that shared his prison cell. He knew he had to be careful. He slowly pushed the horizontal wooden box back into the wall and the snake filled box disappeared.
I have an appointment. I will resume The Escape again.
Andrew C. Allen 4/15/13
513.638.7140
pewabic34@gmail.com
The royal court had confiscated his gem collection; mostly diamonds, emeralds, and rubies. His prized possession, an eighteen carat diamond that was scheduled to be purchased for Catherine the Great had been confiscated during the coup. It was easier for the palace police just to take the collection which included thirty-seven diamonds totaling two hundred eighty-five carats. He wanted his collection back.
Riddles were more prevalent in Charles' day of the mid 1700's. The royal court gave Charles a riddle and if solved, he could use it to gain his freedom, collection, and a new life. If he failed; death. There were three keys to unlock the safe were the Halle diamond was kept. Charles nicknamed the diamond after his Alma mater, Halle University. Could he do it?
As he sat in his jail cell, he noticed a human skeleton in the corner of the dimly lit room, and when he paced the floor he heard rattling sounds appeared, but from where? He was let outside in the afternoon three times a week. After weeks of this routine and thinking about his surroundings and controlled timed schedules, he thought more about the riddle and how the dead body was a sign from the cell. The human carcass would be the first key to unlocking the safe. After an entire season of cold winter blahs, a guard inadvertently showed Charles a mouse that he kept in his pocket during the winter months. The mouse would become the second key to unlocking the safe. All of this information was in Charles's head, but he made no connections until the sunlight poured in from the window up above the south wall. The sun position had to go through an entire season before he could begin to put the pieces of the puzzle together. By this time, Charles had lost many pounds and lost strength in his left arm. On a Thursday afternoon, rays of light beamed close to the skeleton and he noticed the wall had a slight bump in it. Charles moved the bones away from the wall. Fresh foot-marks were on the floor. All this had become obvious because of the sunlight. He was stooped. Charles picked away at the wall and instead of peeling away and peeling downward, he picked at the wall and pulled towards him. After many turns, this repeated motion revealed a horizontal wooden panel that was painted black. This explained why it blended into the darkness. Over time, the moisture had warped the wood to expose the box. As he pulled the horizontal panel towards him, a lever pulled a box down to the ground. The box had a black hole on top of it and a clear panel in which you could peer into it. A rattlesnake coiled dead center stared at Charles. From his observations, he could see that the coiled mesh on top of the box served as a mechanism. It became clear to him after awhile that if you place your hand in the coiled mesh from above and tried to remove your hand quickly, the mesh would tighten and the hand would stay suspended long enough for the rattlesnake to strike a deadly, poisonous bite. Charles assumed this is what had happened to the dead gentleman that shared his prison cell. He knew he had to be careful. He slowly pushed the horizontal wooden box back into the wall and the snake filled box disappeared.
I have an appointment. I will resume The Escape again.
Andrew C. Allen 4/15/13
513.638.7140
pewabic34@gmail.com
Thursday, April 4, 2013
Oral traditions transformed into a blog.
My father and I have had many conversations about the life of Charles Cist. As a young boy growing up, it was not so much a conversation, but me just listening to his stories about his ancestors. My father worked at a law firm for forty years. I am thankful that he was home every night to share family time with his children. He taught me the importance of the oral history traditions and the validity of family history passed down from generation to generation. As he approaches his eighty-fourth birthday, it is still a pleasure to talk with him about Charles Cist. It is a connection that we have together. Now it is my turn to share questions about Charles Cist with my father. I share my questions, for example, did Charles Cist have any brothers, or sisters in Russia? Is there a side of the family over in Russia today that is thinking the same about us? Has there been an oral history passed down from a Russian family about an uncle that escaped to America? Perhaps, this blog can connect stories, reunite/start relationships, answer puzzles.
There are some challenges that I want to over come. Charles Cist had children. One of them was Lewis J. Cist from Cincinnati, OH, no offspring. He was a little eccentric When he passed away he had perhaps the largest and best autograph collection in the world. The collection had autographs from poets, world leaders (ancient and new), signers of the Declaration of Independence, and so much more. The auction catalog is now a collector's item. Moving forward, the collection was settled and the proceeds were placed in a Cincinnati bank. The bank went under with the business cycles of financial depressions and prosperity of the 1800's. Well, it was told to me that the other side of the family on the East coast blames our side for the loss and the two sides have not been in communications for a very long time. Hopefully, the internet can get people talking and helping to complete the story of Charles Cist. People should realized that I was not even around during the 1800's and I had nothing to do with the outcome. Hopefully, this will work in my favor. As the older generation passes away, this can be an extension of a conversation in word art. Once again we are dealing with a life story that encompasses the ideals about freedom and painting a story about a man of individual freedom struggles, but also spent his life with the printed forms of educating patriots during the American Revolution. The printers of Cist and Steiner's most famous printed pamphlet was Thomas Paine's Common Sense.
I will share my creative writing. I will specify that I am in dream mode. Dream mode is when I can imagine what could have happened based on the history that has been passed down. I will state the separations for the bloggers. For example, history has been passed down that Charles Cist escaped from Russia during the coup of Catherine the Great's reign. How did he escape? Who did he encounter? How long did it take him to reach America? How did he end up marrying General Jacob Weiss's daughter? General Weiss was a general under George Washington. These are a few of the questions that I have for this blog.
My next blog will deal with the Great Escape from prison and evading a long, lonely ride to Siberia.
Andrew C. Allen 4/4/13
513.638.7140
pewabic34@gmail.com
There are some challenges that I want to over come. Charles Cist had children. One of them was Lewis J. Cist from Cincinnati, OH, no offspring. He was a little eccentric When he passed away he had perhaps the largest and best autograph collection in the world. The collection had autographs from poets, world leaders (ancient and new), signers of the Declaration of Independence, and so much more. The auction catalog is now a collector's item. Moving forward, the collection was settled and the proceeds were placed in a Cincinnati bank. The bank went under with the business cycles of financial depressions and prosperity of the 1800's. Well, it was told to me that the other side of the family on the East coast blames our side for the loss and the two sides have not been in communications for a very long time. Hopefully, the internet can get people talking and helping to complete the story of Charles Cist. People should realized that I was not even around during the 1800's and I had nothing to do with the outcome. Hopefully, this will work in my favor. As the older generation passes away, this can be an extension of a conversation in word art. Once again we are dealing with a life story that encompasses the ideals about freedom and painting a story about a man of individual freedom struggles, but also spent his life with the printed forms of educating patriots during the American Revolution. The printers of Cist and Steiner's most famous printed pamphlet was Thomas Paine's Common Sense.
I will share my creative writing. I will specify that I am in dream mode. Dream mode is when I can imagine what could have happened based on the history that has been passed down. I will state the separations for the bloggers. For example, history has been passed down that Charles Cist escaped from Russia during the coup of Catherine the Great's reign. How did he escape? Who did he encounter? How long did it take him to reach America? How did he end up marrying General Jacob Weiss's daughter? General Weiss was a general under George Washington. These are a few of the questions that I have for this blog.
My next blog will deal with the Great Escape from prison and evading a long, lonely ride to Siberia.
Andrew C. Allen 4/4/13
513.638.7140
pewabic34@gmail.com
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