Descripción
4to., (10 5/8 x 8 ¾ inches). (Occasional browning and spotting throughout). Fine folding engraved map of "Part of the United States of North America," original hand coloring in outline (short tear to right margin, a bit browned); 4 full-page engraved maps and plans; fine engraved frontispiece "View of the Rock Bridge"; 10 engraved plates (light scattered spotting). Modern half crushed morocco, the spine in six compartments, with five raised bands, gilt-lettered in one and gilt florets in the rest. Provenance: From the distinguished library of Walter Ashburner (1864-1936), with his ink stamp and manuscript ownership inscription to the title page. First edition. "In his account of the United States, Weld found more to criticize than to admire. He deplored slavery and the treatment of the Indians; Americans struck him as rude and covetous; farming methods were 'slovenly.' Although he praised aspects of Philadelphia and New York City, and declared himself to be 'well pleased at having seen as much of [this continent] as I have done,' nevertheless he concluded, 'I shall leave it without a sigh, and without entertaining the slightest wish to revisit it.' Nor did he. "Weld was more favourably impressed by the Canadian provinces. Between July and November 1796 he travelled from Lake Champlain to Montreal and Quebec, returning through Montreal and continuing his journey to Kingston, Newark (Niagara-on-the-Lake), Malden (Amherstburg), Detroit, Fort Erie, and into western New York. He declared the scenery from the Upper Town of Quebec to surpass 'all that I have hitherto seen in America, or indeed in any other part of the globe,' and travelling conditions between Quebec and Montreal to be the best in North America. He argued that 'a man of moderate property could provide for his family with much more ease in Canada than in the United States' because the price of land was lower there. Like many other British travellers, then and later, Weld felt more at home in the provinces than in republican America. "Although some of his judgements were obviously rather subjective, Weld's book was a substantial piece of work. He spent more time in North America than did many other travel writers. He was fortunate in his timing: in the 1790s he was able to give an early, sometimes a first, account of many aspects of North American life. Finally, Weld had a special skill in describing the topographical and physical aspects of the country through which he travelled 'on horseback, on foot, and by canoes.' This aspect of the book was strengthened by good maps and by plates made from his own sketches" (G. M. Craig for DCB). N° de ref. del artículo 72MMS103
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