1792 · London
by Imlay, Gilbert
London: Debrett, 1792. (iv), xv, (1 blank), 247, (1, ad) pp.; with half-title [closed tear expertly repaired] Three-quarter crimson morocco over red cloth-covered boards, decorated in gilt. Top edge gilt, marbled endpapers; by H. Zucker, Philadelphia; old ownership initials on verso of front free endpaper; "Rosenbach" in pencil at top of half-title; scattered spotting to text.
This is the first edition of Imlay's early and highly influential description of the American frontier [although Clark says the book "must be used with great caution."] Imlay was a captain in the American army during the American Revolution. He became a land speculator in the Kentucky region, where he gathered the observations that make up this work. Clark calls Imlay "a man who left Kentucky without settling his obligations, who seems to have been involved to organize a French expedition to take the lower Mississippi Valley, and who treated Mary Wollstonecraft shamelessly."
The book is in an epistolary format, exchanges from a Kentuckian to his friend in England. Imlay provides one of the most complete descriptions of the trans-Appalachian West up to that time. Its popularity resulted in several editions, including a 1793 New York printing.
FIRST EDITION. Howes I12. II Clark 41. Streeter Sale 1522. (Inventory #: 40420)
This is the first edition of Imlay's early and highly influential description of the American frontier [although Clark says the book "must be used with great caution."] Imlay was a captain in the American army during the American Revolution. He became a land speculator in the Kentucky region, where he gathered the observations that make up this work. Clark calls Imlay "a man who left Kentucky without settling his obligations, who seems to have been involved to organize a French expedition to take the lower Mississippi Valley, and who treated Mary Wollstonecraft shamelessly."
The book is in an epistolary format, exchanges from a Kentuckian to his friend in England. Imlay provides one of the most complete descriptions of the trans-Appalachian West up to that time. Its popularity resulted in several editions, including a 1793 New York printing.
FIRST EDITION. Howes I12. II Clark 41. Streeter Sale 1522. (Inventory #: 40420)
(203) 389-8111
