Jacob Dickert article online

[spgordon]

Dear list members,

Over the summer I wrote to the list a few times asking for images or documents related to Jacob Dickert, and you all were typically generous. The long article that I wrote is now online and I would welcome any comments, suggestions, corrections, quarrels, etc. There are 19 images (mostly documents, but some of rifles) associated with the article, so please make sure you see those.

You can see the article here: http://www.immigrantentrepreneurship.org/entry.php?rec=180

Best regards,

Scott Gordon

[tallbear]

Great article Scott,thanks for posting it!!!

Mitch Yates

[Hurricane ( of Virginia)]

Thank you. " Extrordinary!"
I have added your article to the Library in:
1. Original Research and eduction
2. PA ( Gunmakers )
Hurricane

[Shreckmeister]

Can't wait to get off work so I can read the whole thing.  First few paragraphs are great.
Thanks Scott.

[PPatch]

Excellent. Dickert has always interested me and your article sure ties his, and his areas history together. Thank you.

dp

[TG]

For any student of the American longrifle and of Jacob Dickert as a founder of said firearm, this article is essential. It brings together a vast array of material and presents it in a concise and very reader-friendly manner. It is simply fascinating! I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and learned so much.

[lexington1]

That is great! It is centered around Jacob Dickert but in a larger sense describes the early gunsmithing trade. A must read. Fantastic!

[Jim Kibler]

Thanks Scott.  One detail I found interesting is the following:

" Caspar Wistar imported German rifles in the 1730s and 1740s, asking his supplier to tailor them for the American market, where consumers “prefer rifles with barrels that are three feet and three to four inches long.”[26]"

Do you know the date of the source that mentions barrels three feet and three to four inches long being preferred?  This seems to be significant in helping understand the evolution of the longrifle.

Thanks,
Jim

[spgordon]

Thanks so much for all the comments. I really appreciate them.

Jim, the info about the sorts of rifles that Wister thought his American buyers would like is in a letter that he wrote to Georg Friederich Hölzer on October 1, 1737. It's translated and quoted in Rosalind Beiler, Immigrant and Entrepreneur: The Atlantic World of Caspar Wistar, 1650-1750 (University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2008), 145-146.

[Shreckmeister]

Scott,  Many thanks for contributing this research for all to share.  You obviously have a tremendous amount of time and energy in this project.  I found it to be both informative and entertaining.  The footnotes really add to the article and provide an opportunity to seek out more information. 

[Curtis]

Spgordon,

Very well researched and written.  Thank you!!!!!!!

Curtis

[JTR]

Excellent, just excellent!
Thanks so much!
John

[Mark Elliott]

That was a great read;  and I passed it on to a customer who just ordered a copy of RCA #48 from me.   He was also suitably impressed.

[davebozell]

Thank you very much for sharing this article with us.  It is the best narrative on early gunmaking that I have ever read.  It definitely deserves a place in the ALR library.  It would be an honor to read your other works.

[Tom Currie]

Scott, Thanks for sharing your research with us. I find it interesting how much "Dickert " or Deckhard" became recognized a brand with far reaching recognition.

[KLMoors]

Finally had the time to sit down and read the whole thing.

Great job. Thanks for putting this out their for all of us to enjoy.

[JLB]

Great Article.
Thank you

[spgordon]

On this Thanksgiving day, my heartfelt thanks to everybody who took the time to read the essay and especially to those who posted something here. I really appreciate it. Best wishes to all -- Scott Gordon