Martenet Press

Maryland as a political subdivision traces its roots back to a time both turbulent and promising. Mired in quarrels over trade, religion and territory, Europeans braved the uncertain oceans seeking riches, land and the freedom to worship as they saw fit.

Volume 2A opens with the text of the charter of Maryland granted in 1632 and then follows the settlers of the province from their initial landing at St. Mary's City until the year 1645. The text chronicles the conflicts with William Clayborne, who would prove to be a thorn in the side of Marylanders for decades to come, centering on the dispute over the ownership of the Isle of Kent, upon which Clayborne had previously established a trading post.

This volume also covers the tensions between the Calvert-led proprietary government and the "freemen" or burgesses who comprised the assembly of the province, the classic struggle between the rights of the governor versus the rights of the governed.

If that weren't enough, the English civil war threatens to spill over onto Maryland's shores, further unsettling the province.

The Martenet Press editions are produced with the reader in mind. You can find other Bozman history editions on the web, but none like this one. The others are either photo-reproduced copies of the original printing, or they are the result of marginally cleaned-up optical character recognition software. Either results in poor reader experience. In contrast, the Martenet Press edition is a completely new typeset version with larger type and reader-friendly features throughout. We've included illustrations of the prominent individuals and events in the story (when images exist!). Bozman's history has been cited many times by other historians, so we included original edition page markers so that you can find those references in our edition. Check out the inside of the book in the sample above.

We are confident our edition is the best one currently available, and we think you'll like it.

Our own Joel Leininger has written a new Foreword to introduce the text and to explain our approach in producing the edition. We've also included two new indices, one a general subject index and the other an index of the hundreds and hundreds of people mentioned in the work.

This page pertains to the hardcover edition of Volume 2A. We also offer a paperback edition on this page, and a complete set of all three volumes in hardcover on this page and in paperback on this page. Buying a complete set will save you money as compared to buying all three volumes individually, in both the cost of the books and in shipping.

Other volumes in this set:

Volume 1 paperback See this page.
Volume 2A paperback See this page.
Volume 2B paperback See this page.
Volume 1 hardcover See this page.
Volume 2B hardcover See this page.
The entire set in hardcover See this page
The entire set in paperback See this page

About the author

John Leeds Bozman (1755-1823) a native of Talbot County, Maryland was Deputy Attorney General for Maryland from 1787-1808 and was the first Marylander to write a history of the state.

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