Hi Folks and Happy New Year,
I spent time at my brother's new house in SE PA during the holidays. He is not far from Valley Forge so we spent some time there. We also drove up to Doylestown to visit the Mercer museum because I wanted to see the Edward Marshall rifle. The museum is very nice and worth the visit but the displays are not easy to see clearly. Most are collections of tools and products representing different trades but the items are in little closed off display rooms and you view them from a distance through windows kind of like if you were window shopping. They have a gunsmithing display but you really cannot see the tools and guns very well. With regard to the Marshall rifle, we had to ask where to find it because it was not in the gunsmithing display or the firearms display. Instead, it was in the collection of native American artifacts and it was included in a display about the "walking purchase", in which Marshall was an important player. The rifle stands vertically, with lock facing out. It is set back from the glass window and in a little recess so much of the detail is lost in shadow. You really cannot see much detail. Fortunately, my main purpose was to gain a sense of the gun's proportions, which I did. Anyone building one should understand that although the lock area, wrist, and butt stock are fairly robust, the forestock forward of the lock is as slim, thin, and graceful as any early long rifle. Fortunately, there are many excellent photos of the gun published in several books but don't expect to get good views at the museum. I am going to write a note to the head curator requesting they display the rifle better. I believe it is one of the most historically significant items in their collection and instead of placing it as peripheral to the walking purchase, it should be included with their other long rifles in a display of long rifle evolution.
dave
