Travels through Canada, and the United States of North America, in the years 1806, 1807, & 1808. To which is added, biographical notices and anecdotes of some of the leading characters in the United States. Third Edition, Corrected and Improved.
London. Printed for Cradock and Joy; & Edinburgh, Doig and Stirling; & Dublin, M. Keene. 1816. thick8vo. 20.5cm, Second Edition, corrected and improved, in 2 volumes, xxxiv,544 & viii,532pp., with large engraved colour folding frontis map, 1 engraved chart, and 16 aquatint plates, (The map, the chart of Quebec and the six costume plates are hand-coloured in full; the ten view plates are in sepia), occasional light foxing, in contemporary half calf, wide gilt ruled raised bands, blind and gilt decorated in the panels, crushed crimson morocco labels, marbled boards and endpapers, early expertly rebacked replacing all of the original spines, in near fine attractive antique binding. (cgc). Item #42713
T.P.L. 6994. Lande 506. Sabin 38734. Howes L-40. Clark II-157. Gagnon I-1926. Abbey Travels II-613. One of the most important works on pre-Confederation Quebec and one of the very few aquatint books on Canada. Lambert came to Lower Canada in 1806, officially to assist in the encouragement of the cultivation of hemp in the province, with a view to freeing Great Britain from dependence on the Northern European market, then placed in a precarious position by Napoleon's Berlin decree. His efforts in this direction failed, but he remained three years in North America, travelling from Quebec and Montreal to New York, South Carolina, Georgia, and Boston. His informal and highly readable account of his travels and observations provides much valuable and interesting information regarding social life, education, religion, the aboriginal population, politics, agriculture, trade, manufactures, and shipbuilding. “John Lambert spent one year in Lower Canada, and his account of manners, language, religion and politics is precise and valuable. He found neat, whitewashed farmhouses, a people tamed by violent extremes of weather and given to gossip. The food (including thick, sour milk, pork, and “stinking cheese “) was unappetizing, and the dialect corrupt (he insists "froid“ pronounced as "frete“). The consequences of conquest were sluggishness, lack of literature and art, and Roman Catholic domination of politics. His beautiful aquatints add to the value of this early book of regional travel”. Waterston p27.
Price: $2,000.00