Even by the standards of such books, these two volumes concern a remarkably diverse array of subjects. William Maud, evidently of Wetherby, York, England, b. 1787 served as a customs official in Great Britain; he was employed at the excise office in Leeds in 1830. His son, John, migrated to New England where he worked in mills; the son was involved in a "colony" in Iowa, in Delaware County. Both of these books show signs of being used over a long period, for a variety of purposes. In some cases, pages appear to have been used for two or three different purposes at different times. In the first volume the entries include financial sums, annotations concerning the movements of William Maude in the 1810s and 1820s. Most of the entries from this period relate to the customs business, and list volumes of goods, and duties paid. The untidy nature of these pages suggests that this book may have been used for rough calculations, before a fair copy was made. There are some brief entries in cipher. This volume contains a wealth of reference material of use to the customs agent, such as conversions of gallons to barrels, tables for duties on various numbers of barrels of ale and beer, bushels of malt, recipes for strong ale, strong porter, common ale, common porter, from Alexander Morrice's Treatise on Brewing (1802), as well as recipes for inks of various colors. Other items are more miscellaneous; including a short religious allegory involving a bear and some Indians, transcriptions of various architectural and astronomical curiosities, a "Fair and Foul Weather Prognosticator," bookkeeping advice, a specious recipe to cure love: "A handfull of disdain...", poetry transcribed from gravestones, and biblical references, thematically organized. The interest in barrel volumes and the presence of beer recipes suggests that the keeper(s) of these volumes may have been associated with Edmund Maud, a wine and spirit merchant listed at Kirkgate, Leeds, in Pigot's directory, 1831, which is not far from Maud's home of Wetherby. The second book has dates that are contemporary with the other. It is labeled William Mauds book Stillington, but this inscription has been covered over with a calligraphic pattern. The flyleaf contains entries noting when various members of the Maud family were bound out as servants. There are entries of salaries paid, and expenses incurred, but they are not recorded in any systematic fashion. There are also transcriptions of religious anecdotes, and hymns. The entries here include some basic information on Maud's career: he arrived supernumerary in 1813 (he does not say where) and was commissioned Officer (of excise, presumably) Stoney Middleton, in 1814, then to Buxton in 1818. He outlines his excise career in some detail, with the dates and locations of his service, along with the names and dates of his children and removes. In a different hand are the names of later Maudes, with the last entry dated 1932. John Maude, son of William, emigrated to Chicopee, Mass., in 1852, and worked in mills there, as well as Holyoke and Fall River. Following is an extensive scripture index, with verses suited for particular occasions such as temptation and afflictions, recipes for salting beef and pork, and them more scriptural guides. There are also manuscript copies of various legal forms. At the end of the volume, there are dozens of recipes for making compounds to treat a variety of complaints, including worms, and a "sore breast." Of further interest is a letter laid in from L. Bolles Jr., to John Maud, concerning his purchase of land in Delaware County, lowa, in the vicinity of Sand Spring. The letter refers to Maud's purchase being entered on the books of the "Colony," but we have not discovered references to any communal projects in this area at the time. It would be interesting to conduct further research on Maud's career in Iowa; this item is notable as a record of one family's journey across two generations from an old village in England to the fringes of the American frontier. Acquired from Catalog Seventy-Three, M & S Rare Books, Providence, RI, July 2002. The bookseller's description is used above. [Manuscript School Books]