John Reading’s Diary, Editor David R. Reading based on original transcriptions by Dorothy A. Stratford, Alexandria, Virginia: The Mount Amwell Project, 2010. John Reading's Diary, Hardcover, 220 pages, $39.95 

“John Reading’s Diary is a rich cornucopia of details of daily life in mid-eighteenth century colonial New Jersey. The diary records buying and selling, lending and borrowing, and services rendered and payment received between John Reading and hundreds of customers and employees in New Jersey and beyond and his own family members. These transactions are recorded in multiple currencies at constantly fluctuating exchange rates (much like Europe before the implementation of the single euro currency in 1999). John Reading enjoyed high political and economic status. His life illustrates a prominent leader of the rising American political class. His diary is must reading for any student of eighteenth-century colonial American history.”

— Dr. Alvin Rabushka, David and Joan Traitel Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University. Rabushka’s most recent publication is Taxation in Colonial America, which received Special Recognition as 2009 Fraunces Tavern Museum Book Award.

How to Order            

By mail: 

Send $40 to cover price, handling and postage to:

The Mount Amwell Project, PO Box 226, Lebanon, NJ 08833

On the Web: 

On Amazon.com, search books for “John Reading Diary David R. Reading” and order per standard Amazon process. Price is $39.95 plus shipping.

The Papers of Thomas Reading

The papers of Thomas Reading are drawn from two manuscript collections held by Princeton University Library Department of Rare Books and Special Collections: The Reading Family of New Jersey Collection and the Moore Furman Collection. The Moore Furman Collection contains several business related letters written in the 1790’s and two letters to Thomas Reading in 1780. The Reading Family collection consists of correspondence and documents of Thomas Reading, his father, Governor John Reading, and his brother, George Reading, dating chiefly from the time of the American Revolution. Thomas Reading's papers include a return of purchases made for forage for the U.S. Army during the Revolutionary War, dated 1779; a statement of accounts, dated 1780, when he served as contractor for Hunterdon County, New Jersey; and a "Statement of certificates given.”. There are several other letters and documents sent to Thomas Reading from officials in the Continental Congress regarding army supplies and hay and forage for the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War.

These soft cover books were edited and transcribed by David Reading and printed at no cost by Scott Reading of Charlotte, NC. For a copy please send a check for $10 to MTAP, PO Box 226., Lebanon, NJ 08833.