
CANADA
(Algonquian
& Iroquois). Cuoq, Jean-André. Études
philologiques sur quelques langues sauvages de l’Amérique. Par N.O.
Montréal: Dawson Brothers, 1866. 8vo (24.5 cm, 9.6"). 160 pp.
$825.00
Click the middle or right image for an enlargement.
Contained here are a critical examination of some philological works on New World languages by Schoolcraft and Duponceau, a study of the principles of the grammatical structures of Algonquian and Iroquois, and finally comparative lexicons of the Algonquian and Iroquoian languages based on McKensie, Duponceau, Schoolcraft, Catlin, and others. The initials N.O., adopted by Father Cuoq and appearing upon the title-pages of a number of his works, are the first letters of the names given him by the Indians among whom he lived — the first, Nij-kwe-natc-anibic, being a Nipissing name meaning the beautiful double leaf; the second, Orakwanentakon, a Mohawk name meaning a fixed star.
Father Cuoq (1821–98) was an extremely accomplished linguist as evidenced by his becoming fluent in both Algonquin and Iroquois; Field (Indian Bibliography, p. 93) writes glowingly of his mastery of these languages. His life as a missionary of the Order of Sulpitians, notably among the Nipissing at Lake of Two Mountains, certainly aided in his scholarly achievement.
Pilling, Algonquian, 100-101; Pilling, Proof-sheets, 952; Field 391; Newberry Library, Indian Linguistics in the Edward E. Ayer Collection, Algonkin-14; Sabin 17980. Not in Banks; not in Evans, Masinanhikan. Original printed green wrappers, spine reinforced some time ago, edges chipped. Half-title with pencilled annotations. First text page rubber-stamped by a now-defunct institution; pages otherwise clean.
Bible. N.T. Chippewa. O’Meara. 1854. Ewh Oowahweendahmahgawin owh Tabanemenung Jesus Christ, keahnekuhnootuhbeegahdag Anwamand egewh Ahneshenahbag Ojibway anindjig. Toronto: Henry Roswell [for the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge], 1854. 8vo. 766 pp., [1 (errata)] f.
$1600.00
First edition of this translation of the King James version of the New Testament into the Ojibwa (a.k.a., Chippewa) language; it had been proceeded by the translator’s version of the Gospels, in 1850, and by two other complete New Testaments. The translator, Frederick O’Meara (1814–88), was active in translating the Bible, hymns, and the Book of Common Prayer into Ojibwa. He was a member of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel mission to the Chippewa and served for many years at the mission on Great Manitoulin Island in Lake Huron.

The first complete translation of the New Testament into Ojibwa appeared in 1833 and was the effort of Edwin Jones, a surgeon in the U.S. Army (with the help of John Taylor, a U.S. army interpreter). The second translation was by Henry Blatchford and appeared in 1844. O’Meara’s is the third translation and
the first printed in Canada.
Pilling, Proof-sheets, 2830 (who lists it as by James rather than Frederick O’Meara); Newberry Library, Indian Linguistics in the Edward E. Ayer Collection, Chippewa-32; Darlow & Moule 3034. Recent quarter calf, old style; raised bands, gilt ruling above and below the bands as accents, gilt center devices in spine compartments. Deep red spine label lettered in gilt; marbled paper sides. One corner-tip of title-page lost; no other chips or tattering, and the text is quite clean.
A very good copy of an uncommon indigenous language item.


Micmac
Matthew
& John
Printed by "Megumagea'
Ledakun-Weekugukemkawa Moweome"
in "Chebootook"
[THAT'S HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA]
Bible. N.T. Matthew.
Micmac. 1871. Pela kesagunoodumumkawa tan tula uksakumamenoo westowoolkw'
sasoogoole clstiawti ootenink. Megumoweesimk. Chebootook: Megumagea' Ledakan-Weekugukemkawa
Moweome, 1871. 12mo. 126 pp. [bound with] Bible. N.T. John. Micmac.
1872. Wooleagunoodumakun tan tula Saneku. Meumoweesik [sic for Megumoweesmk].
Chebootook: Megumagea' Ledakun-Weekugukemkawa Moweome, 1872. 12mo. 103, [1 (blank)]
pp.
$1500.00
Following the successful early efforts of the 1850s to translate Matthew, John, Luke, Genesis, Acts, and the Psalter into Micmac, the 1860s were spent using the new tools and in learning from errors in the first efforts.
The 1870s saw major efforts at revision: Matthew and John, the two Gospels offered here, were the first to be revised. The works were printed at Halifax, Nova Scotia, and have a pronunciation guide printed on the verso of the title-page. (Please note that many, many un-HTML'able diacritical marks have been deleted from the title and imprint information above: If you need to see these intact, please request a fax.)
Darlow & Moule 6788 and 6789. Contemporary purple cloth in imitation of pebbled morocco. Binding lightly rubbed; hinges starting. Overall an impressively good copy.
A number of other BIBLES & BIBLE PARTS in
CANADIAN INDIAN LANGUAGES
may be browsed via
the general AMERICAN INDIAN section—
click here.
Bible.
N.T. French. 1824. Ostervald. Le
nouveau testament de notre seigneur Jésus-Christ... seconde édition
Américaine. Boston: J.H.A. Frost, 1824. 12mo (18.2 cm, 7.1"). 379, [5 (1
blank)] pp.
$600.00

Early American edition of the translation by eminent Swiss Protestant
Jean Frédéric Ostervald, based on a Paris edition and following
1811 and 1814 U.S. printings. Likely intended for use among French Canadians
and French émigrés in the United States, this is a good
example of an early American printing of a complete Testament, either Old or
New, in French.
Shoemaker 15382. Contemporary speckled sheep, worn and abraded,
spine with gilt-stamped leather title label. Front pastedown with early numerical
inscription. Outer margins of last few leaves waterstained; some pages with
mild cockling or light spotting, others with varying degrees of age-toning.
Catholic
Church. Catechism. Ojibway. A short compendium of the Catechism for the Indians, with the approbation of the Rt. Rev. Frederic Baraga, Bishop of Saut Sainte Marie, 1864. Rev. N. L. Sifferath, Missionary of the Ottawa and Otchipwe Indians. Buffalo, N.Y.: C. Wieckmann, (Aurora Printing House.), 1869. 12mo (18.3 cm, 7.2"). 62, 2 pp.
$500.00
Click either image above for an enlargement.

Written in the Ottawa dialect. Sabin 80996; Pilling, Algonquian, 462; Pilling, Proof-sheets, 3601a. Not in Banks; not in Evans. Original buckram, showing minor water damage; upper page margins waterstained, obviously to very lightly. Title-page with library stamps and some rough old pen-markings; first two leaves a bit torn at binding.

Catholic/Methodist Dispute in
BROOKLYN
Coate, Samuel. An enquiry into the fundamental principles of the Roman Catholics; in a letter addressed to Mr. John Richards, formerly a preacher in the Methodist Connexion, but who lately ... joined the Church of Rome. To which is added, an essay on the beauty and excellency of true religion. Brooklyn: Pr. by Thomas Kirk, 1809. 12mo. 76 pp.
$300.00

Early Brooklyn imprint and an important Methodist response to the
conversion to Catholicism of one of its preachers.
Samuel
Coate was a significant figure in the spread and advancement of Methodism in
Lower Canada and in adjacent parts of the U.S. This
small work is from the press of the “pioneer printer” of Brooklyn.
He issued his first book in 1799.
The Beauties and Excellencies of True Religion (p. [49]–76)
has a sectional title-page.
Uncommon: OCLC locates only three copies.
Shaw & Shoemaker 17237; Doggett 108. Publisher's
paper shelfback with green paper–covered boards — a delicate binding;
paper of spine perished, exposing sewing, and binding stained with age. Interior:
paper good and quite clean. (23255)

First
Editions — Bible History &
Sacred Biography
[MONTREAL]
[Cuoq, Jean-André]. Aiamie tipadjimo8in masinaigan ka ojitogobanen kaiat ka niina8isi mekate8ikonaie8igobanen kanactageng, 8ak8i ena8indibanen. Moniang [Montreal]: John Lovell, 1859. 12mo. 337, [3] pp. [bound with his] Ka titc tebeniminang Jezos, ondaje aking.... Moniang [Montreal]: John Lovell, 1861. 12mo. 396 pp.
$1500.00
The first title in this volume is a history of the Old Testament
and the second is a life of Jesus. Both are translated into the
Nipissing
dialect of Algonquin and both are first editions in Algonquin. Father
Cuoq (1821–98) was an an extremely accomplished linguist as evidenced by his
becoming fluent in both Algonquin and Iroquois; Field (Indian Bibliography,
p. 93) writes glowingly of Cuoq's mastery of these languages. His life as a
missionary of the Order of Sulpitians, notably among the Nipissing at Lake of
Two Mountains, certainly aided in his achievement.
Although there is nothing in the vows that the Sulpitians take requiring self-effacement,
it is a characteristic of books published by members of the order that the author's
name not appear on the title-page. A minor point, but an interesting factoid.
I: Pilling, Proof-sheets, 947; Newberry Library,
Indian Linguistics in the Edward E. Ayer Collection, Nipissing-28 [giving
author as Jean Claude Mathevet]; Field 389; Sabin 46820. II: Pilling, Proof-sheets,
949; Newberry Library, Indian Linguistics in the Edward E. Ayer Collection,
Nipissing-30 [giving author as Jean Claude Mathevet]; Field 390; Sabin 46821.
Contemporary half calf over marbled boards, worn at edges and along joints,
spine abraded. All edges marbled in blue and orange. First title-page with
two old library stamps, pages else very clean.
Cuoq, Jean André. Lexique de la langue Algonquine. Montreal: J.
Chapleau & Fils, 1886. 8vo (23 cm, 9"). xii, 446, [2 (1 blank)] pp.
$900.00
Click any image where the hand appears on
mouse-over, for an enlargement.
First edition of Father Cuoq’s respected and important Algonquin–French dictionary. Luckily this work was not completed earlier in the priest’s career, for many of Cuoq’s linguistic studies published and sold by Chapleau & Fils perished in a disastrous fire in 1877.
Newberry Library, Indian Linguistics in the Edward E. Ayer Collection, Algonkin 19; Pilling, Bibliography of the Algonquian Languages, 101; not in Vancil, Cordell Collection. 20th-century maroon cloth, spine with gilt-stamped title and publication information; boards very slightly sprung, with some discoloration along back joint. Pages age-toned (especially first and last few leaves) and embrittled, with occasional edge nicks. Several signatures towards back of volume unopened.

“I wish she would write
a
Jalna book a year for the rest of her
life . . .”
De la Roche, Mazo. The building of Jalna. Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1944. 8vo. [4] ff. 366 pp.
$15.00
First U.S. edition, second printing, of this episode in
Canadian
writer De la Roche's multi-volume epic of Jalna. The front of the
dust jacket bears Lee Thayer's colorful depiction of Adeline sitting on a large
stump, with Capt. Whiteoak standing next to her gesturing at the construction
of Jalna in 1850.
Very good condition with a good+ dust jacket (small tears,
price clipped from front flap).
CREE
Horden, John. A grammar of the Cree
language, as spoken by the Cree Indians of North America. London: Society for
Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1881. 12mo (161 mm; 6.375"). viii, 238 pp.
$1550.00


First edition of one of the first Cree grammars in English. Horden, who began his life as an ironworker, received his calling in 1851 and was sent to Canada with only two weeks notice—during which time he was expected to find a wife. He succeeded in finding both a wife and a fruitful career, eventually becoming
the first bishop of Moosonee, diocese of Rupert's Land.
Horden's approach here is rooted in descriptive grammar and is expressed in terms of classic Latin-based structure. He urges his language-learning students to begin with his grammar, but to "use the living voice of the Indians as much as possible" as their guide (p. vi).
A copy of the issue intended for field use: With the flexible, water resistant binding.
Pilling, Bibliography of the Algonquian Languages, 237; Newberry Library, Indian Linguistics in the Edward E. Ayer Collection, Cree-73 (giving incorrect page count); Pilling, Proof-Sheets of a Bibliography of the Languages of the North American Indians, 1853. Not in Vancil, Cordell Collection. Publisher's flexible khaki green covers of water resistant cloth embossed in blind with decoration and stamped in blind with "Cree Grammar." Slight dog-earing of the lower corner of the front cover.
A copy of the very uncommon "field use" issue.
“The FATTENING Regimen”?
Jackson, Robert G. The fattening regimen a manual for the too-thin. Toronto: Print-Craft Ltd., 1928. 8vo. 119, [1] pp.; 4 plts.
$90.00
Stated first edition: Developing a healthful, strong physique, based on a program of exercising and balancing dietary acid and alkaline elements.
Publisher's green cloth, front cover stamped in black; binding cocked, otherwise showing little to no wear. Minor foxing to and around plates. (19681)
Jetté, Jules. Canotlé Rannaga Kelékak. Délochét Roka. Winnipeg: Free Press no-rodeneletekteyar, 1904. 8vo (14.4 cm, 5.6"). 54 pp.
$475.00

Roman Catholic prayer book for the Ingalik Indians in the Ten’as language (Athabascan), containing prayers, hymns, and a catechism.
The Ingalik inhabited the middle part of the Yukon River Valley, Alaska.
Click the image to the right
for an enlargement.
Cf. Wickersham, 1050, for another title by Jetté with the same imprint. Not in Evans; not in Banks. Original stiff cloth wrappers. Pages very slightly age-toned, otherwise fine.
Kauder, Christian. Sapeoig oigatigen tan tetli gômgoetjoigasigel...manual of prayers, instructions, psalms & hymns in Micmac ideograms. Ristigouche, Quebec: The Micmac Messenger, 1921. 16mo (18 cm, 7.125"). 456 pp. (pp.i–xii never bound in).
$250.00
First published in 1866, this manual of prayers in Micmac ideograms, containing a catechism, excerpts from the breviary and missal, and prayers for various occasions, served the tribe for many years in absence of a priest. It was first printed at Vienna in 1866, and this new edition reproduces in facsimile the Micmac text of the original, with the addition of a title-page and titles in English and French. Fr. Kauder was a Luxembourger priest who worked for 10 years as a missionary among the Micmac in eastern Canada.
Publisher’s yellow-brown cloth with simply gilt-lettered spine, to which one stain and general light soiling. All edges red. Internally clean.
Lacombe, Albert. Dictionnaire de la langue des Cris. Montreal: C.O. Beauchemin & Valois, 1874. [bound with his] Grammaire de la langue des Cris. Montreal: C.O. Beauchemin & Valois, 1874. 8vo (24 cm, 9.5"). 2 pts. in 1 vol. [7] ff., [v]–xx, 711 (i.e., 709), [3 (1 blank)] pp.; fold. map; [1] f., iii, [1 (blank)], 190 pp.; fold. chart.
$850.00
First edition of this important linguistic aid. The dictionary is French to Cree and then Cree to French, with the Cree in roman alphabet. The grammar is organized, as one must expect, along the traditional Latin paradigm. Father Lacombe was a member of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, and served as chaplain to workers laying track for the Canadian Pacific Railway.
Click the images for enlargements.
Several bibliographies, including Pilling's Proof-sheets and Ayer, treat this as two distinct works. Indeed, the dictionary and the grammar do each have their own distinct title-pages, pagination, and signature markings. They were issued together, however, though sometimes separated for sale. The publisher’s original paper wrappers are bound into this volume.
Pilling, Bibliography of the Algonquian Languages, 283; Newberry Library, Indian Linguistics in the Edward E. Ayer Collection, Cree-93 & Cree-9; Pilling, Proof-Sheets of a Bibliography of the Languages of the North American Indians, 2155 & 2156. Not in Vancil, Cordell Collection. Recent black moiré cloth, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label. Wrappers (bound in) dust-soiled and with edge chips; front wrapper partially adhered to half-title and back wrapper with Grammaire half-title affixed. Map partially adhered to an additional half-title. Page edges untrimmed; pages very slightly age-toned, else clean. Pagination jumps from 708 to 711 in pt. 1, but as the word listing goes from sagamité to sagamo it seems certain that the text is complete.
Lacombe's
Grammar of
This "Beautiful"
Language
Lacombe, Albert. Grammaire de la langue des
Cris. Montréal: C.-O. Beauchemin & Valois, 1874. 8vo. [1] f., iii,
[1 (blank)], 190 pp.; fold. table.
$975.00
First edition of the Rev. Lacombe's Cree grammar, a language whose
grammatical structure has favorably impressed more than one investigator. Archdeacon
Hunter in an 1875 lecture stated that he was extremely "impressed with the beauty,
order, and precision of the language used by the Indians around us. . . . If
a Council of Grammarians, assembled from among the most eminent in all nations,
had after years of labour propounded a new scheme of language, they could scarcely
have elaborated a system more regular, beautiful, and symmetrical. . . . "
Newberry Library, Indian Linguistics in the Edward E. Ayer
Collection, Cree-95; Pilling, Algonquian, 283; Pilling, Proof-Sheets
of a Bibliography of the Languages of the North American Indians, 2156;
Banks 36. Not in Vancil, Cordell Collection. Modern maroon cloth with
black spine and corners. Very good copy.

Catechism in Micmac 1759, Updated
Maillard, Antoine Simon, abbé, & Pacifique de Valigny, père. Le catéchisme micmac. Ristigouche, P.Q. (Québec): Frères mineurs capucins, 1913. 12mo. 306 pp., [1] f., 32 pp.
$675.00
Click the interior images for enlargements.
Deuxième édition of this catechism originally written in 1759 by Abbe Maillard and here revised by Fr. Pacifique. There is another edition with the same title-page and with contents identical up through p. 111. That edition, however, has only 128 pp. and from p. 112 to 128 the contents are different than found here. The final 32 pp. of psalms are identical in both editions.
Click the interior image for an enlargement.
Quite scarce. We find only one copy reported as owned by any U.S. library.
Publisher's red cloth, all edges gilt. Very good condition. (14554)
Mathevet, Jean-Claude. Ka titc Jezos Tebeniminang Ondaje Aking Enansinaikatek Masinaigan Ki Ojitogoban Kaiat Pejik Kanactageng Daje Mekatewikonaietc J. Cl.
Mathevet Enawindibanen. Vie de Notre-Seigneur Jésus-Christ par J. Cl. Mathevet, Ancien missionnaire du Lac des Deux-Montagnes. Deuxième édition, revue avec soin. Montréal: J.M. Valois, Libraire-Éditeur, 1892.
12mo (15.7 cm, 6.2"). xi, 384 pp.
$400.00

The biographical notice on p. vii reads (in translation): “Jean-Claude Mathevet, born at St-Martin-de-Valamas, diocese of Viviers, in 1717, entered the Congregation of Saint-Sulpice when he was still very young. Having shown his superiors a great desire to work for the missions, he was sent to Canada in 1740. From that period until 1778 he was a missionary with the Indians of Lake of Two Mountains, where he rapidly learned the language, especially that of the Algonquians, of which he left a number of writings, which for the most part remained in Manuscript. Among his printed works the Histoire Sainte and his Life of Jesus [above] stand out. They were successively printed for the first time in 1860 and 1861.”
Cf. Banks, 147; cf. Pilling, Algonquian, 345, for first (1861) ed. Not in Evans. Publisher’s cloth, with binder's title “Vie de Jésus en Algonquin”; cloth a bit wrinkled over spine and showing slight rubbing over corners, with signs of a now-absent shelf label on spine. Pages age-toned and a bit brittle as of the era, with sewing starting to loosen for some signatures. Back free endpaper with portion of upper margin torn and affixed to back pastedown.
Parry, William Edward. Journal of a voyage for the discovery of a north-west passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific.... London: John Murray, 1821. 4to (27.3 cm, 10.75"). [4] ff., xxix, [3], 310, [2], clxxix, [3 (2 adv.)]pp.; 14 plts., 4 fold. maps, 2 maps.
$1000.00
Click any image above for an enlargement.
First edition of Parry's classic account of his first and most
successful voyage of Arctic exploration (181920), which resulted in the
mapping of extensive stretches of coastline. The volume is illustrated with
14 plates and six maps, four of which are oversized and folding; the appendix
includes tables of navigational and chronometer data, lunar observations, and
a report on the state of health and disease among the men.
The copper-engraved, oversized frontispiece
map shows Baffin's Bay, Barrow's Straits, Prince Regent's Inlet, and the North
Georgian Islands, as well as the bay named after Parry's two ships.
Arctic Bibliography 13145; Hill (2nd ed.) 1311;
Sabin 58860. Recent quarter calf over marbled paper–covered sides, spine
with gilt-stamped leather title and author labels, and gilt-stamped anchor
decorations in compartments. Title-page and a few others, plus reverse of
1 map, lightly stamped by a now-defunct institution. Pages gently age-toned,
with occasional offsetting from engraving and the odd spot or smudge. One
map with small portion of inner margin reinforced; final two leaves with inner
margins reinforced; one plate with tears into image and mounted. Final advertisement
leaf bound in before final text leaf. All edges marbled.
Seeking
the Northwest Passage, 182425
Parry, William E. Journal of a
third voyage for the discovery of a north-west passage from the Atlantic to
the Pacific: performed in the years 182425, in His Majesty's ships Hecla
and Fury. Philadelphia: H. C. Carey & I.
Lea, 1826. 8vo. (24.1 cm, 9.5"). Fold.
map, 232 pp.
$750.00
First U.S. edition. Sir William Edward Parry (17901855) made
a successful naval career and earned a knighthood exploring the Arctic. This
was his third voyage, and his second in command of the expedition. He gives
a detailed description of his travels in the Arctic Sea north of Canada, adding
much to the knowledge of that area, while still not finding a navigable route.
His subsequent voyage in 1827 had the aim of attaining the north pole; it was
not successful in that aim but set a record for reaching the highest latitude
that remained unbroken until 1876.

The
Journal was first published in London in 1826 and shortly followed
by this first American edition. It includes a foldout map showing Parry's
route.
Shoemaker 25670; Sabin 58867. On Parry, see: The
Dictionary of National Biography, XLIII, 39293. Quarter
cloth over paper with paper spine label, antique style. Map
tattered on the edges, affecting ruled border, and with two closed tears.
Lightly cockled with bumped corners; foxing and old damp-staining.
A
leaf of advertisements has been bound in at frontsee our second illustration, here. Ownership
inscription on title-page.

Roman Catholic Church. Liturgy and Ritual. Mohawk. Tsiatak Nihono8entsiake onk8e on8e Akoiatonsera... le Livre des Sept Nations ou Paroissien Iroquois, auquel on a ajouté, pour l'usage de la mission du Lac des Deux-Montagnes, quelques cantiques en langue Algonquine. Tiohtiake [Montréal]: John Lovell, 1865. 12mo (18.5 cm, 7.25"). [6], [6 (blank leaves with decorative borders)] ff., 460 pp.
$1575.00

First edition; translated by J. A. Cuoq. The volume contains a Mohawk processional, hymns, prayers, etc., with some music (e.g., for “Maria Mater Gratiae” and “Tharonhiakanerekeha”).
Click the image to the left
for an enlargement.
Provenance: Inscribed in 1891 to W.D. Lighthall, prominent citizen of and author of Hochelagans and Mohawks: A Link in Iroquois History, by George S. Wilson.
TPL 9325; Banks, 109; Pilling, Iroquian, 50; Calderisi, 16. Contemporary roan, rebacked; abrasions along edges. Half-title with short tear at binding and with pencilled inscription as above. Tear at foremargin of one blank leaf; pp. 274–75 with small area of adhesion.
Native
American
Languages,
Customs &
Origins
Scherer, Jean-Benoît. Recherches
historiques et géographiques sur le nouveau-monde. Paris: Chez Brunet,
1777. 8vo. xii pp., [2] ff., 352 pp.; 9 plts.
[SOLD]
Click the interior images for enlargements.
Scherer attacks what he considers to be the two “grandes questions”
regarding the discovery of America: whether or not the ancients knew of its
existence, and what were the origins of its inhabitants. In pursuit of these
questions, he gathers together various pieces of ethnologic and linguistic information
on Native American tribes including the
Iroquois,
Huron, and Natchez, as well as other peoples like “les
Kamtschadales,” “les Tschutsches,” Scythians, and Tatars. A “table
polyglotte du langage” runs from p. 266 through p. 277.
Nine plates are included,
the last of which an impressively oversized, folding map in French and Russian
showing the river route from Yakutsk to Okhotsk; the map is labelled, “Par
un Anglois nommé William Walton qui en envoya l‘original à
Mr. Visher à Petersbourg le 15 fevrier 1743” and “Calquée
d‘après l‘original et gravée par E. Dussy.”
Sabin 77608. Mottled calf, worn and cracking, covers framed
with triple gilt fillets; spine with five raised, abraded bands and gilt-stamped,
chipped floral devices in compartments. Front joint cracked and back starting,
with cords holding. Some loss of leather to corners, base of spine. Bookplate
of the Bibliotheca Sobolewskiana. Edges marbled; most pages clean, a
few with varying offsetting.
A
PRB&M “FEATURED BOOK”
for others, click here.
Steele, Zadock. The Indian captive; or a narrative of the captivity and sufferings...to which is prefixed an account of the burning of Royalton. Montpelier, VT: Published by the author (pr. by E.P. Walton), 1818. 12mo (16.5 cm, 6.5"). 142, [2] pp.
[SOLD]

First edition: Steele’s dramatic account of his imprisonment, which he concludes has taught him the lesson of “the depravity of man; and the fallacy of looking for durable happiness in terrestrial things” (p. 142). In 1780, a small group of British soldiers led a Mohawk raid on Royalton, Vermont, following which Steele and a number of others were captured, taken to Canada, and held prisoner by the British before staging a daring escape — not knowing that the Revolutionary War was over.
Click either image for an enlargement.
Ayer, Narratives of Indian Captivity, 280; Howes S-930; Sabin 91164; Shaw & Shoemaker 45795. Contemporary mottled sheep, worn; leather chipping over spine and lost over head of spine. Front pastedown torn and peeling; front free endpaper lacking; back pastedown absent. Title-page with upper inner corner torn away, just touching “T” in first “The” of title. Pages age-toned and spotted, with some edge nicks and chips. Sewing starting to loosen.
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