A Narrative of Col. Ethan Allen's Captivity. Written by Himself.
Burlington, IA: Chauncey Goodrich, 1846. Hardcover. Small 8vo. Brown cloth spine and printed tan paper over boards. 120pp. Good only. Boards edgeworn, rubbed and blemished, with hinges starting but tight; front flyleaf lower corner paper loss and page 7-8 upper corner paper loss; moderately to heavily age toned and foxed throughout. Item #46813
Decent fourth edition of the Revolutionary War patriot's narrative, first published in 1779. Front pastedown and title page each bear the brown inked ownership signature of A.N. Abbott. By way of background, Benjamin Abbot (1750-1815) served in the Revolutionary War as a private with Colonel Stark's New Hampshire Regiment and later a sergeant with Colonel George Abbott's Massachusetts Regiment; his grandson was Asa McFarland Abbott (1820-89), pioneering Illinois farmer of note whose home was a well-documented Underground Railroad site; his niece was Olive Oatman of the Oatman Massacre fame, whose family left their neighboring farmstead to travel westward and were murdered by Native Americans, she and her sister being held captive; in 1857 she co-authored the bestselling "Life Among the Indians," one of the best-known Indian captivity narratives. On the rear pastedown someone (likely A.N. Abbott, 1862-1929, son of Asa McFarland Abbott) has crudely pencilled what appears to be a property map. HOWES A 137 note.
Price: $150.00