Winter Studies and Summer Rambles in Canada.
London. Saunders and Otley. 1838. 12mo. 19.7cm, The First Edition, in 3 volumes, xiv,315 & vi,341 & vi,356pp, complete with half-titles, in contemporary mahogany brown calf, binding ruled raised bands, marbled boards, top edges gilt, new crimson and black leather labels, new cockerel marbled endpapers, some slight wear on the board edges, ex public library with circular ink stamps occasionally spread throughout and "Canadiana" stamped on each title page, in general a good to very good sound set in somewhat on the shelf binding. Item #43608
Lande 2165. T.P.L. 2165. Sabin 35731. Story p387. “This travel diary contains several factual descriptions of Toronto and Upper Canada in the late 1830s. After leaving Toronto, Jameson encounters Indigenous people, settlers and voyageur life first-hand, and her unfavourable first impressions of Canadian society are dramatically reversed. The author’s highly personal observations and her sudden adaptation to the new environment give a fictional dimension to her account”. Fee & Cawker. Canadian Fiction. Anna Jameson was a noted English bluestocking, whose acquaintances included the Schlegels, Tieck and Ottilie von Gothe. Indeed, it was with the greatest reluctance that she left Europe and joined her husband, (the Attorney-General), in Toronto. However, once there, her active intelligence combined with an equally active distaste for her husband's company provided the incentive for travel and observation. From 1836 to 1838 she travelled throughout the Province gaining impressions of the scenery, society and historical background of Upper Canada. One of the finest set pieces is a description of a fire in the Irish quarter; born in Dublin (her father was a famous Irish miniature painter), she describes the plight of the victims with great feeling. However, she remained unmoved by the sight of Niagara Falls, writing "it was sung to me in my cradle that I should live to be disappointed - even in the Falls of Niagara"
Price: $800.00