A Summary ... of the British Settlements in North-America - photo 1
A Summary ... of the British Settlements in North-America - photo 2

A Summary ... of the British Settlements in North-America

Lot 38
17.01.2024 11:00UTC -05:00
Classic
Sold
$ 6 300
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUSA, New York
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ID 1119114
Lot 38 | A Summary ... of the British Settlements in North-America
Estimate value
$ 3 000 – 5 000
A Summary ... of the British Settlements in North-America

William Douglass, 1749-1752

DOUGLASS, William (c.1691-1752). A Summary, Historical and Political, of the first Planting, progressive Improvements, and present State of the British Settlements in North-America. Boston: Rogers and Fowle (vol. 1); Daniel Fowle (vol. 2), 1749-1751 [but 1752].



First book-form edition, printed in Boston, of the first American history of the whole country. This work was first issued in parts over four years and it is rarely found in original condition. The Preface described this: "we published in loose Sheets by way of Pamphlet, feuille volante, or los-blad, which in their Nature are temporary, and soon lost." Douglass further apologizes for his attacks on Commodore Knowles over the issue of impressment in Boston, for which he had been sued for libel. Douglass was a Scottish-born physician working in Boston. Unfortunately his ambitious attempt at a history of the British colonies in North America as a whole was an inauspicious beginning. Howes calls it "a vast reservoir of untrustworthy information." Evans 6307 & 6992; Howes D-436 (“b”); Sabin 20726.



Two volumes, octavo (197 x 122 mm). (Pale browning and a few spots.) Contemporary calf, blind-ruled (abraded, a bit dry, vol. 2 chipped at ends, spine labels lacking). Custom morocco-backed slipcase. Provenance: Joseph Wright (ownership signatures on both title-pages) – Molly Wright (ownership inscription dated 17 April 1760) – Mary Alsop (inscriptions recording gifts to her daughter, also Mary Alsop in 1813) – Joseph Wright Alsop (inscriptions recording gift from his aunt Mary Alsop, dated 1844; bookplates and neat inkstamps) – Bruce E. McKinney (his sale, Bonhams New York, 2 December 2010, lot 63).

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