Carpenters of Boston:

THE RULES OF WORK, OF THE CARPENTERS, OF THE TOWN OF BOSTON. FORMED, AND MOST ACCURATELY CORRECTED, BY A LARGE NUMBER OF THE FIRST WORKMEN OF THE TOWN. PUBLISHED AGREEABLY TO ACT OF CONGRESS.

[Charlestown MA]: Printed, for the Proprietors, 1800. iv, [3], 34, [4 blanks] pp. Stitched in original marbled wrappers. Spotted. Stitching loosened. Upper corners turned. Signed in ink by Thomas Stutson, the Secretary. "With the names of the committee of twenty-one who drew up the rules, p. [v], and a blank space for the secretary's signature. The American Antiquarian Society copy is signed: Thos. Stutson. Monogram device of Samuel Etheridge of Charlestown on title page" [Evans].

Price books, establishing uniform rates for various tasks, prevented ruinous competition among tradesmen. They were from time to time challenged as conspiracies to thwart the operation of free markets. But the established tradesmen who developed them found them valuable. "Rules for Carpenters, specifying the various kinds of work they perform, the manner of finishing, and the value, are extremely necessary and highly useful. . . And they tend to prevent or remove all uneasiness between those who employ and those who perform."
This carpenters' price book is listed in dollars and cents rather than pounds. Apparently all copies were signed in ink by Thos. Hutson, the secretary of the committee who drew up the rules.
Rink 1760. Evans 37003. Item #39594

Price: $2,750.00