An Account of Two Voyages to New-England. Wherein you have the setting out of a Ship, with the charges, the prices of all necessaries for furnishing a planter and his family at his first coming; A Description of the Countrey, Natives and Creatures, with their Merchantil and Physical use

London: Printed for Giles Widdows, 1674. 16mo, 18th-century calf, gilt, spine gilt with raised bands, green morocco label, combed marbled endpapers. [8], 215, [1], [8], 227–279, [3] pp. (with errors in pagination as issued). License leaf with woodcut printer's device (often lacking) preceding the title-leaf, errata leaf following the dedication, and 3 pp. of advertisements in the rear. Woodcut of winged dragon to license leaf. CONDITION: Very good, small paper flaw in S2 with loss to a few letters; two leaves with very minor stains, else a clean copy; upper joint just starting. First edition of this scarce 17th-century description of New England, including (truncated) valuable observations on the natural history of the region: “the earliest work on the Natural History of New England” (Rich). Josselyn visited America in 1638-39 and again from 1663 to 1671, spending most of his second sojourn with his brother on Prout’s Neck (then known as Black Point) in what is today’s Scarborough, Maine. Although parts of his history are based on inaccurate references, the book is renowned for its firsthand observations of the natural history of New England and the description of the situation with the Indians prior to King Philip’s War in 1675. Josselyn’s work includes an herbal, with numerous botanical as well as medical and surgical descriptions, and is considered the “first complete description of the flora and fauna of the Middle Atlantic and New England States” (Winsor). The cranberry, wild turkey, blueberry, and other northeastern species are fully described here for the first time. Besides its treatment of New England, the work is of considerable value for its fine contemporary English account of New Netherland (i.e. New York). The work also deals with the practicalities and provisions necessary for the long sea-voyage. It contains as well a catalogue of tools and supplies essential to begin a new life in the colonies. A description of colonial New England of high importance.  REFERENCES: European Americana 674/105; Church 627; Sabin 36672; Stevens, Nuggets 1567; Howes J254, “c”; Streeter Sale 635; Vail 162; Wing J1019; ESTC R20234; Siebert Sale 105; Field 780; Sprague, Mirror of Maine 3. (Inventory #: 6700)