Voyages and Travels of an Indian Interpreter and Trader, Describing the Manners and Customs of the North American Indians; with an Account of the Posts Situated on the River Saint Laurence, Lake Ontario, & c.....
London: Printed for the Author, 1791. Hardcover. 4to. Full calf with extensive decorative and diced blind-embossing, raised bands with gilt lettering, rules and decorations, inner dentelles. x, (2pp), 295pp. All edges gilt. Folding map frontispiece, marbled endpapers. Very good. 19th century rebind quite attractive, but a tad worn at hinges with small chip at gutter front and rear; internally tight and fine and bright, with no age toning or foxing. Item #52230
Nice first edition of the famed exploration narrative by this British explorer and fur trader who began with the Hudson's Bay Company in 1768 and spent almost two decades among the Native Americans of Canada. Writes Thomas W. Field: "His knowledge of the character, customs, and domestic life of the Indians was therefore the most thorough and intimate. His relations are characterized by candor and intelligence, tinged a little with the disappointments, which most of the servants of the Company who have written accounts of their experiences, seem to have suffered." Foldout map is superb, and as usual leaves a bit of offsetting to title page. Subtitle continues, describing Long's well-known 100+ page Native American word lists: "To Which Is Added, a Vocabulary of The Chippeway Language. Names of Furs and Skins, in English and French. A List of Words in the Iroquois, Mohegan, Shawanee, and Esquimeaux Tongues, and a Table, Shewing the Analogy Between the Algonkin and Chippeway Languages." FIELD 946. GRAFF 2527. HOWES L 443. RADER 2249. SABIN 41878.
Price: $3,500.00