Books and Manuscripts

Rochefoucault-Liancourt, (François Alexandre Frédéric), Duke de la
Travels Through the United States of North America, the Country of the Iroquois, and Upper Canada, in the Years 1795, 1796, and 1797...
London: Printed for R. Phillips by T. Davison, 1799. In two volumes. First edition in English. 4to. (ii), xxiii, (i), 639; (ii), 686, (9) (index), (1) (ad) pp.; lacking postscript and index at end of first volume. Translated from the French by H. Neuman. Illustrated with three large engraved folding maps of the United States and Canada, the Northern and Southern Provinces of the United States, and with six tables (four folding) delineating the three branches of the United States government and their electoral procedures. Handsomely bound in three-quarter tan levant over tan cloth-covered boards, stamped in gilt; all edges trimmed; marbled endpapers; by Sangorski & Sutcliffe; offsetting from plates on to text; scattered light foxing in rear of first volume; scattered moderate foxing in second volume. Howes L-106; Sabin 39057; Clark, Old South 2:103 (2)

One of the primary source books for American history at the close of the 18th century: first edition in English of French social reformer Duke de la Rochefoucault-Liancourt's account of his travels through the United States and Canada.

"The observations of this distinguished author, made during a three years' residence, extend to the political constitution of the country, the manners, etc., of the inhabitants, its physical state and natural history. The translator appears to have executed his task faithfully, and to be well acquainted with the country described. His notes frequently increase the information, and sometimes correct the errors of the original." (Sabin). Exiled from France in 1792 after plotting unsuccessfully to transport French King Louis XVI to England, the Duke first fled to England, and then in 1794 to the United States. During the next three years he and his associates began a tour of North America, traveling extensively throughout the Eastern United States, from Maine to Georgia, to the Great Lakes region, and then into Upper Canada, making meticulous observations along the way. "The work...contains much information available in public documents, such as constitutions and census reports and statute books...when all is said and done, this child of the eighteenth century, this spiritual kinsman of Jefferson and Young, has written a sound, informative account...He tried, when possible, to get a corroboration of what he was told, and he had a passion for figures...he was the political economist, searching for facts on government, law, taxation, labor, agriculture, trade and manufacturing, the military arrangements, and penal matters." (Clark, Vol. II, p. 120).

A handsome set.