I don't know if this is the most appropriate place to ask this question but I'm taking a shot. Recently while cleaning out my Grandfathers house, after his passing, I came across this book. It's old and worn out but the pages are clear and crisp. There are names, dates, prices and descriptions of the labor each man came from. It took a while for me to realize what it was but then I found a note tucked away about halfway through from an ancestor who wrote down who owned it, what it was, and that is was 136 years older than 1755.
There are a great deal of pages before the original owners grandchildren started using it to store recipes that are extremely old in their own right. My fear is, however, that pages are starting to get muddied where the ink is deteriorating and I want to see if I could take it somewhere where they might be able to use it for records or anything of importance. I'd like to see it put to a good use.
Should I bring it to a historical society? That's the only thing I could think of at the moment.
Any help would be greatly appreciated or even a point to a different subreddit if this one is not appropriate.
Thank you
The first question you should ask yourself is what do you want to do with it?
From the description you've given us, it sounds like it's in pretty rough shape. If you want to personally keep it (and that is an option), I'd suggest contacting a paper conservator for a consultation. I'd recommend finding someone with a membership in the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works; they have to follow some pretty strict standards, and I've been impressed with the work of Seth Irwin here in Alaska.
If you decide that the ledger belongs in a museum or archive, you should determine whether you want to have it locally, within your state, or nationally. First and foremost, consult your family and come to a joint decision. If this is indeed the property of a grandfather, having an agreement in writing is pretty important. It may avoid some headaches for you later.
You haven't said whether you're in the United States or not, but given Reddit's demography, I'll assume as much.
Several state archives, including North Carolina and Virginia maintain collections of slave ledgers. Several institutions of higher learning do so as well. They're particularly prized by genealogists searching for family links, because ledgers are among the few places where the names of individual black Americans were written.
If you can't decide the local/state/national issue, I'd strongly encourage you to reach out to the Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition at Yale University. These are folks connected to the study of American slavery, and they're connected enough on the academic side to be able to help you.
The most important thing with a found artifact like you have is conservation. The iron gall ink used at the time that ledger was written will literally eat away the paper beneath it. The paper itself may become fragile. Keep all documentation together with it. Until you decide what to do with it, handle it as little as possible. Keep it in a dry space at room temperature. Don't put it on the floor or in a box on the floor.
If this ledger is as you describe it, it's a potentially important document for historical research. Don't expect to get rich off it, and you'll be able to enjoy the satisfaction of a job well done when you decide on its ultimate destination.
As a historian of slavery and the African Diaspora this is very cool. But i am dubious of the suggested dating. 136 years before 1755 is 1619. That is only twelve years after the founding of Jamestown, and the year the first slaves were reported to arrive in Virginia. Unless this is the record of those slaves it must be more recent. Also, if you can read it without too much trouble I doubt that it was written in the early seventeenth century. Most people need considerable training and practice to read documents of that vintage (paleography).
All of this isnt to discount the veracity of the document just the dating. The date seems very early to me for a North American document of this type.
I've found something similar here in Brazil, but not that old.
I donated it to the National Archives. They were so pleased with it!
It would be very helpful if the OP could take some pictures of some of the pages (especially the oldest parts) and post them here.
It would greatly help the identification process and further some qualified answers.
That sounds really interesting, is it from the US? 1619? Interesting because the first African slaves were brought to Jamestown, Virginia, in 1619.
Historical society, or maybe if you have a good library near you, one of the reference librarians might have an idea of the right place to take it.
Or you could contact a black history museum if you have one near you, or even the National Museum of African American History and Culture https://g.co/kgs/gPzGzH.
Looks like they also accept donations, so might be able to at least point you in the right direction. https://nmaahc.si.edu/donate-item