THE COLUMBIAN MAGAZINE, Philadelphia, January, 1787  One of the more intriguing articles is: "Letters Relative to the Treatment of Capt. Asgill, while Prisoner in the American Army, being a full Refutation of the Charges of Inhumanity Exhibited in London Against General Washington". This is on the Huddy-Asgill Affair. Website have full details, but in brief Capt. Huddy, an American officer, was hanged by the British in reprisal for the killing of a Loyalist. Washington was incensed, and had British prisoner Capt. Asgill selected (they drew straws) to be hanged in retaliation.
Among the other articles within: "Portrait Of General Washington--Translated from the French of Mr. Mandrillon, by a very Young Lady" which takes about 2 pages (lacking the plate); "A Letter from Mr. Otto to Dr. Franklin" "New Experiment of the Transfusion of Blood" "Paradise of Negro Slaves--A Dream" and more.
Among the poems near the back is: "Addressed to General Washington in the Year 1777, After the Battles of Trenton and Princeton" and: "Mount Vernon - An Ode Inscribed to General Washington, Written at Mount Vernon, August 1786 by Colonel Humphreys".
Near the back is "Intelligence" which has the latest news reports of the day from both America and various European cities. Included is a report from New York noting: "...meeting of the society for promoting the manumission of slaves & protecting such of them as have been or may be liberated...The society came to the following resolution, That a gold medal be given to the person who shall deliver the best oration...exposing in the best manner the injustice & cruelty of the slave trade, and the oppression & ill-policy of holding Negroes in slavery." There is also some content on the Shays' Rebellion.
Lacking the meteorological chart.
Complete in 48 pages, 5 by 8 inches, lacking the full page title/contents page, foxing mainly to the first several leaves, good condition.

Background: This January 1787 issue of The Columbian Magazine—one of the earliest, most significant, and short-lived American monthly periodicals (published in Philadelphia from 1786 to 1792)—is a remarkably rare primary source that captures the political, intellectual, and social anxieties of the post-Revolutionary Confederation era. Most notably, it features the primary-source "Letters Relative to the Treatment of Capt. Asgill," a defense of General George Washington’s conduct during the infamous Huddy-Asgill Affair, which had sparked severe accusations of "inhumanity" in the London press after Washington ordered a British prisoner selected by lot for retaliatory execution. Beyond this major diplomatic defense, the issue carries immense content value by documenting the dawn of organized anti-slavery efforts in America through the literary piece "Paradise of Negro Slaves—A Dream" alongside a New York news report detailing a gold medal contest sponsored by the Society for Promoting the Manumission of Slaves to expose the cruelty of the slave trade. Coupled with contemporary news on Shays' Rebellion—the very uprising that catalyzed the call for the Constitutional Convention later that year—and original poetry dedicated to Washington by his former aide-de-camp Colonel David Humphreys, this complete 48-page text block stands as a highly desirable, scarce snapshot of early American republic history, despite lacking its original engraved portrait plate and meteorological chart.

This title has the honor of being the first successful American magazine, having begun in September, 1786 and lasting until December, 1792.