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MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE AND TRAVELS OF JOHN LEDYARD, FROM HIS JOURNALS AND CORRESPONDENCE
by Sparks, Jared
- Used
- Hardcover
- Condition
- See description
- Seller
-
New Haven, Connecticut, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
London: Henry Colburn, 1828.. xii,428pp. Half title. Original plain paper boards, rebacked at an early date with green cloth, most of the original paper spine laid down, printed paper label. Boards scuffed and stained, spine soiled. Contemporary ownership inscription on front board, armorial bookplate of the Elphinstone family on front pastedown. Minor scattered foxing. A very good copy. Untrimmed and partially unopened. The first British edition of Sparks' life of Ledyard, after the first American edition of the same year. After these first two printings, this popular and compelling biography would see an additional four editions including a German translation over the next five years.
John Ledyard was one of the first great American explorers. He accompanied Cook's third expedition as a sailor, and so visited the Pacific, the Northwest Coast, Alaska, and Hawaii, where he was one of the oarsmen in the boat which took Cook ashore for the parley at which he was murdered. After the American Revolution, at the behest of Thomas Jefferson (then U.S. minister in Paris), Ledyard attempted to cross over to America by traversing Russia, only to be arrested and sent back in farther Siberia. He disappeared while exploring up the Nile in 1789.
"Soon after Ledyard's death in Egypt in 1789, his cousin, Dr. Isaac Ledyard of New York, began collecting material for a biography. The project was aborted, but the material was preserved and ultimately turned over to Sparks...his compilation remains one of the great American biographies" - Forbes. An important source for Cook's voyage and other great explorations, compiled by an important American scholar and historian. HOWES S818. FORBES 709. SABIN 88991. BEDDIE 4525. WICKERSHAM 6566. LADA-MOCARSKI 92 (note).
John Ledyard was one of the first great American explorers. He accompanied Cook's third expedition as a sailor, and so visited the Pacific, the Northwest Coast, Alaska, and Hawaii, where he was one of the oarsmen in the boat which took Cook ashore for the parley at which he was murdered. After the American Revolution, at the behest of Thomas Jefferson (then U.S. minister in Paris), Ledyard attempted to cross over to America by traversing Russia, only to be arrested and sent back in farther Siberia. He disappeared while exploring up the Nile in 1789.
"Soon after Ledyard's death in Egypt in 1789, his cousin, Dr. Isaac Ledyard of New York, began collecting material for a biography. The project was aborted, but the material was preserved and ultimately turned over to Sparks...his compilation remains one of the great American biographies" - Forbes. An important source for Cook's voyage and other great explorations, compiled by an important American scholar and historian. HOWES S818. FORBES 709. SABIN 88991. BEDDIE 4525. WICKERSHAM 6566. LADA-MOCARSKI 92 (note).
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Details
- Bookseller
- William Reese Company
(US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- WRCAM57581
- Title
- MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE AND TRAVELS OF JOHN LEDYARD, FROM HIS JOURNALS AND CORRESPONDENCE
- Author
- Sparks, Jared
- Book Condition
- Used
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Publisher
- Henry Colburn
- Place of Publication
- London
- Date Published
- 1828.
Terms of Sale
William Reese Company
All material is shipped subject to approval, but notification of return must be made within ten days and returns made in a prompt and conscientious fashion.
About the Seller
William Reese Company
Biblio member since 2006
New Haven, Connecticut
About William Reese Company
Since 1975, William Reese Company has served a large international clientele of collectors and private and public institutions in the acquisition of rare books and manuscripts and in collection development.
With a catalogued inventory of over thirty thousand items, and a general inventory of over sixty-five thousand items, we are among the leading specialists in the fields of Americana and world travel, and maintain a large and eclectic inventory of literary first editions and antiquarian books of the 18th through 20th centuries.
We issue frequent, and substantial, catalogues in our fields of specialization, and we are equipped to produce smaller lists devoted to specific subjects with ease in response to requests.
With a catalogued inventory of over thirty thousand items, and a general inventory of over sixty-five thousand items, we are among the leading specialists in the fields of Americana and world travel, and maintain a large and eclectic inventory of literary first editions and antiquarian books of the 18th through 20th centuries.
We issue frequent, and substantial, catalogues in our fields of specialization, and we are equipped to produce smaller lists devoted to specific subjects with ease in response to requests.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
- Unopened
- A state in which all or some of the pages of a book have not been separated from the adjacent pages, caused by a traditional...
- Cloth
- "Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...
- Half Title
- The blank front page which appears just prior to the title page, and typically contains only the title of the book, although, at...
- Soiled
- Generally refers to minor discoloration or staining.
- New
- A new book is a book previously not circulated to a buyer. Although a new book is typically free of any faults or defects, "new"...
- Bookplate
- Highly sought after by some collectors, a book plate is an inscribed or decorative device that identifies the owner, or former...
- Rebacked
- having had the material covering the spine replaced. ...
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