Beschreibung:

[Crevecoeur, Michel Guillaume St. Jean de]Letters from an American Farmer. London: Printed for Thomas Davies 1782 8vo (223 x 146 mm, uncut). Half-title, 2 folding maps of Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard, 2 pp. of advertisements at end; light offsetting on the maps from folding. Original boards; upper board detached, restoration to spine though beginning to split, renewed label with slight loss. First edition of a work hailed “[a]s literature unexcelled by any American work of the eighteenth century” (Howes). Included with the twelve letters which paint a portrait of life in America are two folding maps—providing the first detailed representations of Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard. Four of the letters themselves describe Nantucket, and one describes Martha’s Vineyard and the Whale Fishery. Crevecouer "was a native of Normandy, of noble birth, and came to the British Colonies at the age of sixteen. Having established himself on a farm near the frontier, he became one of the first victims of the War of Independence, the Indian allies of Great Britain setting fire and destroying his property. He wrote his letters during the different epochs of the war, in English. Returning to France, he translated them into French" (Sabin). According to Vail, the accounts contained in the letters of this volume "had a greater influence in attracting its readers to America than any other book of the period.” REFERENCE:Clark Old South I:218; Howes C-883; Meisel III, p. 352; Monaghan 497; Phillips Maps, pp. 389, 457; Sabin 17496; Streeter II:711; Vail 674 PROVENANCE:Jay T. Snider (bookplate to pastedown), his sale, Christie’s New York, Tuesday 21 June 2005, lot 78Condition reportCondition as described in catalogue entry. The lot is sold in the condition it is in at the time of sale. The