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Hanging Henry Gambrill: The Violent Career of Baltimore’s Plug Uglies 1854-1860
By Tracy Matthew Melton

493 pages. Hardbound, illustrated $35.00
Table of Contents, List of Participants, Sources, Index
ISBN:0-938420-93-3

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By Tracy Matthew Melton

On a warm night in September 1858, a number of well-dressed young men set out from a Baltimore restaurant to serenade newlywed friends. Not just any young men, they were leaders of the city’s most feared “political club,” the Plug Uglies, whose reputation and were fast spreading across the country. Before the night was over a police officer lay dead in the street and one of the gang, Henry Clay Gambrill, was in jail. More sophisticated than first thought, the gangs were quickly exploited by Baltimore mayors, Maryland governors, and congressmen. Operating behind an apparently impregnable wall of power, influence, and judicial corruption, they thrived until that clear September night, when a crime and subsequent arrest unexpectedly set in motion a chain of events that would lead ultimately to their betrayal and downfall.

African American Leaders of Maryland: A Portrait Gallery
By Suzanne Ellery Chapelle and Glenn O. Phillips

156 pages. Paperbound, illustrated. Chronology, overview, index, and recommendedreadings.
ISBN 0-938420-69-0

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By Suzanne Ellery Chapelle and Glenn O. Phillips

Since 1634, when the Ark and the Dove arrived in the Chesapeake, African Americans have contributed mightily to the history of Maryland, to the nation and beyond. Prominent men and women from Maryland—Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Eubie Blake, Thurgood Marshall, Reginald Lewis—are well known figures in American History. Others are less familiar, though their stories and achievements should not be. All deserve to be more widely known and studied. The authors have collected portraits and written concise biographies of 45 Marylanders of African American descent for young adult readers. Included is an authoritative introduction to Maryland’s African American history, meant to introduce readers of all ages to the depth and importance of African American history in Maryland.

The Mighty Revolution: Negro Emancipation in Maryland, 1862-1864
By Charles Lewis Wagandt

312 pages. Softback; reprinted $20.00
With illustrations, bibliography, tables, and index.
ISBN:0-938420-91-7

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By Charles Lewis Wagandt

First published in 1964 by the Johns Hopkins University Press, The Mighty Revolution recounts in lively prose the complete, detailed account of the Civil War prejudices and politics behind Maryland’s decision to become the first state to voluntarily free its slaves.

Tuscany-Canterbury: A Baltimore Neighborhood History
By Eileen Higham

106 pages. Paper bound, illustrated $22.50
Table of Contents, illustrations, map, index, Appendix, biographical notes
ISBN:0-938420-77-1

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By Eileen Higham

An intimate look at a charming old Baltimore neighborhood, who built it, who lived there, and why its charm has lasted for a century and more. At a time when planners are rejecting suburban sprawl in favor of “small-town communities,” here is the story of a neighborhood that worked. From Lord Baltimore’s grant to the Merryman family in 1688, to the designation of the area in 2001 as a Historic District in the National register, Tuscany- Canterbury tells the story of transformation: from wilderness to farm to country homes, elegant mansions, then suburb, and urban fringe. “A quiet little valley in among mountains of high rises” boasts housing created by numerous famed architects. French, Italian, Spanish, and Georgian influences are seen in the neighborhood.

Toward Equality: Baltimore’s Progress Report
By Edgar L. Jones and Jack L. Levin

114 pages, softback. Reprinted. Illustrated $10.00

LOC Card #60-12470

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By Edgar L. Jones and Jack L. Levin

A comprehensive portrait of African American life in Baltimore before the abolition of legal segregation, the book gives an overview of inadequate, restricted, and segregated opportunities for people of color. It enumerates the obstacles, advances, and failures in the quest for racial equality, and shows us the struggles, courage, dedication, and cooperative spirit of those who opened doors to equal opportunity in Maryland.

The Plundering Time
By Timothy Riordan

388 pages. Cloth binding with jacket $35.00
Appendix, references, bibliograpy, index
ISBN 0-938420-88-7

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By Timothy Riordan

January 1645 began a period in Maryland's history more dramatic than anything a novelist could invent. Privateers, headed by Richard Ingle, attempted to overthrow the hierarchical government of Lord Baltimore, bringing the state to the brink of ruin and ultimately changing Baltimore's vision of an aristocratic, manorial society. Extraordinary research and a gift for storytelling put this at the top of the season's reading list.

The Great Baltimore Fire By Peter B. Petersen 232 pages. Cloth binding with jacket $30.00 Illustrations; chronology; notes; index; list of firefighting units ISBN 0-938420-90-9 MHS Press Book 35% discount for MHS Members will be adjusted	Price: $30.00
By Peter B. Petersen 2004 marks the 100th anniversary of the great Baltimore fire, a conflagration that raged beyond control for over 30 hours and threatened the entire city. In the aftermath of the blaze, as the city lay crippled, civic pride asserted itself and Baltimore recovered with astonishing speed. The devastation became the impetus for revitalization and modernization. The Great Baltimore Fire tells a gripping story of people in time of crisis, of leadership, teamwork, misjudgements, and terror. Freshly told for the first time in 50 years by Johns Hopkins scholar Peter B. Petersen, this page-turner is generously and beautifully illustrated with photographs, many of which have not been seen in nearly a century.

On Afric's Shore: A History of Maryland in Liberia 1834–1857 By Richard L. Hall 580 pages. Cloth binding with jacket $45.00 Illustrations; annotated role of settlers; reference notes; bibliography; index ISBN 0-938420-86-0 MHS Press Book 35% discount for MHS Members will be adjusted	Price: $45.00
By Richard L. Hall On Afric's Shore tells the controversial story of Maryland's repatriation of its former slaves to Africa. Vibrantly written and precisely researched, the story shows humanity—black and white—at its best and its worst; the idealistic John Latrobe, the talented John Browne Russwurm, the determined Stephen Smith, and a clutch of predictably self-serving politicians. It is the compelling tale of sharply different cultures—former American slaves and the indegenous Grebo people of west Africa. On Afric's Shore is an unforgettable drama of individual bravery, sacrifice, ambition and idealism.

Betsy Bonaparte: The Belle of Baltimore
By Claude Bourguignon-Frasseto

304 pages. Paperback with illustrations, bibliography, index
ISBN 0-938420-82-8

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By Claude Bourguignon-Frasseto

Betsy Bonaparte: The Belle of Baltimore is the riveting tale of high-spirited Betsy Patterson and her forbidden love affair with the French emperor's brother. An officer of Napoleon's navy stationed in Marinique, Jerome Bonaparte disobeyed orders, abandoned his post, and ran off to America to meet and marry the love of his life, beautiful Betsy from Baltimore. Mme. Bourguignon-Frasseto paints vivid images of French culture, the Bonaparte family, and international personalities such as Wellington, Lafayette, Chateaubriand, Victor Hugo, and Samuel Chase.

The Diary of William Faris: The Daily Life of an Annapolis Silversmith
Edited by Mark B. Letzer and Jean B. Russo

496 pages. Cloth binding with jacket $55.00
Illustrations; appendices; bibliography; index
ISBN 0-938420-80-1

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Edited by Mark B. Letzer and Jean B. Russo

From 1792 to 1800, London-born William Faris, craftsman and silversmith in Annapolis, Maryland, recorded daily events and gardening activity in his diary. Beautifully designed and including color portraits of family members and prominent Annapolitans, the book showcases Faris's silver pieces, clocks, and shop drawings. The diary also features background essays and detailed annotations.

Kent Island: The Land That Once was Eden
By Janet Freedman

160 pages. Cloth $22.95
Illustrations, reference notes.
ISBN 0-938420-84-4

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By Janet Freedman

Kent Island is a serious writer's warm and touching tribute to rural life as it used to be on Maryland's Eastern Shore - a remembrance of family, place, and time, of sights, sensations, and wonderful people - before the building of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. Tangible proof that days gone by are never truly lost.

The Living City: Baltimore's Charles Center & Inner Harbor Development
By Marion E. Warren & Michael P. McCarthy

Hardcover, 126 pages, approx. 140 photographs
$35.00, ISBN 0-938420-68-2

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By Marion E. Warren & Michael P. McCarthy

The Living City recounts the story of Baltimore's mid-twentieth-century downtown revitalization. Noted photographer Marion E. Warren's vivid images, and Michael P. McCarthy's lively narrative, place the Charles Center and the Inner Harbor in historical perspective.

Yellow Flag: The Civil War Journal of Surgeon's Steward C. Marion Dodson.
Edited by Charles Albert Earp

ISBN 0-938420-79-8
Paperbound 164 pages, illustrated $16.00

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Price: $16.00

By Marion E. Warren & Michael P. McCarthy

The Living City recounts the story of Baltimore's mid-twentieth-century downtown revitalization. Noted photographer Marion E. Warren's vivid images, and Michael P. McCarthy's lively narrative, place the Charles Center and the Inner Harbor in historical perspective.

Maryland History in Prints, 1743-1900
Cloth binding with jacket, 400 pages
By Laura Rice
320 images; bibliography; index

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Price: $75.00

By Laura Rice

Produced with the assistance of the France-Merrick Foundation, and written by Laura Rice, Maryland History in Prints showcases the etchings, lithographs, and engravings of the Maryland Historical Society. ISBN 0-938420-71-2 400 pages. $75.00 Full-cloth sewn binding with jacket.

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The Patapsco River Valley Cradle of the Industrial Revolution in Maryland
Paperbound, 125 pages
By Henry K. Sharp
ISBN 0-938420-74-7

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Price: $22.95

By Henry K. Sharp

The Patapsco River Valley, located in a small woodland between Baltimore and Washington, witnessed the establishment of numerous foundries, iron mills, and textile factories from the late-eighteenth century until well after the Civil War. Author Hal Sharp draws upon nineteenth-century diaries, newspapers, and journals to chronicle the growth and development of these early industries, and their destruction in the terrible flood of
July 1868 that devastated the area.
This beautifully designed book features more than 200 prints and rare drawings in black-and-white and full-color. 125 pages, index, $22.95.

Henry Sharp is an architectural historian based at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville.

The Chesapeake: An Environmental Biography
Hardcover
ISBN 0-938420-75-5
288 pp.,
bibliographical note index

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Price: $30

By John R. Wennersten
Noted Maryland author and historian John R. Wennersten weaves a captivating "life story" of the largest and most important estuary in the United States. With a clear eye and direct prose, the author distills evidence from historical and scientific records to reach illuminating conclusions about reasons behind the bay's declining health. The story of the Chesapeake Bay -- its origins, its decline, and action for its recovery -- stretches beyond the mid-Atlantic to become a national saga with even global importance. This first complete environmental history of the bay also provides a starting point from which current research and public policy must start.

A Guide to Genealogical Research
in Maryland
Fifth Edition, Revised and Enlarged
Paperbound; 208 pages
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Price: $18.00

By Henry C. Peden, Jr., F.M.G.S.
This new edition is a comprehensive research guide to all of Maryland's family history resources, including libraries, archives, historical, and genealogical societies. Peden has updated and expanded the bibliography to include hundreds of the most valuable genealogical book titles as well as available e-mail addresses, web sites, and fax numbers for all of the state's research centers and societies.

Book jacket, The Baltimore Album Quilt Tradition

The Baltimore Album Quilt Tradition
Paperbound;
includes 160 color photographs - 131 pages
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Produced by Kokusai Art in Tokyo
with the cooperation of the
Maryland Historical Society
Produced by Kokusai Art in Tokyo with the cooperation of the Maryland Historical Society to accompany a hugely popular and successful traveling exhibition in Japan, this catalog traces the development of the colorful, Maryland�made Baltimore Album quilt from its origins in the appliqu� and broderie perse quilts to the later 1850s pieced star quilts.

Book jacket, A Monument to Good Intentions:.....

A Monument to Good Intentions: The Story of the Maryland Penitentiary, 1804-1995
NOW IN PAPERBACK!;
illustrations; appendices; index - 256 pages
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Price: $20.00

By Wallace Shugg
The first history of the oldest continuously operating institution of its kind in the Western World�the Maryland State Penitentiary in Baltimore. Opened in 1811, the penitentiary was first regarded as a profound improvement in the reform and treatment of criminals, as men and women formerly sentenced to labor on Baltimore's notorious "wheelbarrow gangs" were given a chance to served their sentences behind sheltering walls. Later, reform sometimes gave way to cruelty and corruption, but always the institution righted itself. In all, more than 30,000 Marylanders lived part of their lives behind its walls, and in those lives lies a remarkable story. Now it is here for the telling.
Wallace Shugg brings to this book a wealth of experience and talent. Educated at Williams College, Columbia University, and the U.S. Navy, Shugg taught literature and creative writing�at a university and within prison walls. His keen eye for detail and human character has brought us an unforgettable look at a world most of us will never see.

After Chancellorsville: Letters from the Heart

Paperbound, Illustrations, footnotes, index - 280 pages
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Price: $22.50

The Civil War Letters of Private Walter G. Dunn & Emma Randolph
Edited by Judith A. Bailey and Robert I. Cottom
“I reckon I sympathize with you deeply Dear Walt and I wish I could be with you, if it would help you any. I would . . . be the best nurse you ever had, I'll bet you. I would laugh and sing and read to you and if we both felt like it I could cry too, and not half try.”
So wrote Emma Randolph, a young woman not yet twenty, to her distant cousin, Private Walter G. Dunn of the 11th New Jersey Infantry, as he lay in a crowded, filthy hospital ward. They corresponded when Walter went off to war, but their real story only began when he was carried from the smoke and carnage of Chancellorsville to a hospital in Baltimore. There, barely recovered, bloodied and dazed with ether, he aided overworked surgeons when the Gettysburg wounded poured into the city, and regularly took up his pen to relay everyday events that became history.
She replied in kind. At home, men were torn by guilt, women lost in grief, and a presidential election loomed. But there were also church picnics, strawberry festivals, ice cream socials, and trips to the ocean. In time they realized their love for one another and planned a life together after the war ended.
This was the American Civil War for many who lived it — overwhelming and ultimately tragic — viewed through the eyes of a courageous youth and an unforgettable young woman.
“The number of letters in the collection also make it a gold mine. There are a number of Civil War collections, but an ongoing dialogue of 100 letters between two people is a rare find . . .”
— Plainfield Star-Ledger

Book jacket, Builders of Annapolis......

Builders of Annapolis: Enterprise
and Politics in a Colonial Capital

Paperbound, illustrations - 192 pages
5-1/2" x 8-1/4"
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Price: $18.95

By Norman K. Risjord
This lively account of the founding and evolution of one of the liveliest of the provincial capitals begins in the late seventeenth century with Francis Nicholson, first royal governor of Maryland, who coveted for his brand new city the baroque designs of European cityscapes. He executed his ideas with flair—and with some charming imperfections that are still visible in today's Annapolis (visitors discover that “radial” avenues are not radial after all). Then brief interwoven biographies of remarkable and enterprising Annapolitans of the eighteenth century—two signers of the Declaration of Independence, an entrepreneur, a physician, politicians, journalists, and artisans—provide a dramatic view of life in the bustling city as well as understanding of the deep cultural, commercial, maritime, political, and architectural influences of Annapolis on the American colonies and the emerging nation.
Norman K. Risjord is professor emeritus of American history at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He is the author of Jefferson: A Biography, Jefferson's America, 1760–1815, and studies in an educational series of “Representative Americans.” He divides his time between Annapolis and his farm in Wisconsin.

Book jacket, The Life of Benjamin Banneker

The Life of Benjamin Banneker
Second Edition, Revised and Expanded
Smythe-sewn cloth binding with jacket;
illustrations; bibliography; index - 480 pages
6" x 9"
(December, 1998)
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Price: $35.00

By Silvio A. Bedini

Originally published by Scribner in 1972 and described by Smithsonian as “engrossing, thoughtful, and intelligent,” this is the definitive biography of Benjamin Banneker, self-educated mathematician and astronomer, who was America's first black scientist. Banneker was born a free black in Maryland in 1731. He had little formal education, but developed a remarkable aptitude for mathematics. He assisted Andrew Ellicott in surveying the area that was to be the District of Columbia and became an important creator of almanacs in the 1790s. His accomplishments were hailed by antislavery activists in his own time; today his life is honored as a model of black achievement.

Silvio Bedini lives in Washington, D.C. He is co-author (with Wernher von Braun) of Moon, Man's Greatest Adventure and author of Jefferson: Statesman of Science, among many other books combining history and science.

“A well-researched and conscientious account . . . a splendid accomplishment.”
—New York Times Book Review
“Of interest to the general reader as well as to the student of early American science.”
—Choice

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