MAGAZIN VON MERKWURDIGEN NEUEN REISEBESCHREIBUNGEN AUS FREMDEN. . .
Berlin: 1797. Magazin von merkwürdigen neuen Reisebeschreibungen aus fremden Sprachen übersetzt und mit erläuternden Anmerkungen begleitet. Mit Kupfern. Vierzehnter Band. Berlin, 1797. In der Vossischen Buchhandlung. [Magazine of noteworthy new travel-experiences translated from foreign languages and accompanied by illuminating observations. With copperplates. Fourteenth Volume. Published in Berlin, 1797, by the Vossische Bookdealer.] Written in German Fraktur. [8], 284 pp. Two copper plates. Binding absent. Lacking the second count of 232 pages. Otherwise, Good+.
The book, 'Magazine of Noteworthy New-Travel Experiences Translated From Foreign Languages and Accompanying by Illuminating Observations,' translates the English printing of Samuel Hearne's trip from Prince of Wales Fort in Hudson Bay to the Northern Ocean from 1769-1772. It contains two copper plates one (foldout) of a boat; one of a bow, arrow, snowshoe, sledge, and carrier made of birch bark.
The author describes the life of the Indians of this region in astonishing detail, including their illnesses, religious beliefs, superstitions, how they play with their children, how they relate to their animals. He notes, for example, that they have created snowshoes that are foot-specific, unlike the more common interchangeable ones, pointed at the tip, fairly straight on the inside, bowed on the outside. He characterizes old age as the "worst misfortune" [das groesste Unglueck] for a northern Indian, as people too old to work are in essence discarded, barely fed, and ultimately simply die of neglect. The same fate befalls those too sick or weak to move on. The author identifies a similarity between the superstitions of the northern Indian tribes with those of Northeast Asian shamanistic religions, a belief in fairies who occupy earth, air and water, and guide human beings.
Howes W86. Item #39091
Price: $175.00