A HISTORY OF THE INDIAN WARS WITH THE FIRST SETTLERS OF THE UNITED STATES, PARTICULARLY IN NEW ENGLAND. WRITTEN IN VERMONT.
Montpelier, VT: Published by Wright and Sibley, 1812. 319pp, original sheep [worming to covers; some worming to endpapers; two small wormholes to blank outer margin of final leaf; otherwise, worm-free]. Light scattered foxing. In a modern slipcase. Good+.
"Written by the first president of the University of Vermont, but published anonymously, this book was bitterly criticized in the 'Liberal and Philosophical Repository' for its strictures on colonial bigotry and cruelty towards Native Americans, thus causing Reverend Sanders to suppress the distribution of it. . . The book's reputation as a rarity exceeds its scarcity" [Siebert].
This work is one of the best summaries of the Indian Wars which had up to that time appeared. It includes not only the early colonial struggles, but also the late 18th century fighting in the Middle West" [Rosenbach].
"This book aroused bitter criticism because of its strictures on colonial bigotry and cruelty to the natives and, according to Field, this caused its suppression and 'so few copies have survived that its very existence was unknown to the most zealous collectors of Indian and Vermont History'." [Streeter Sale]
Field's note discusses at length the review written by a "personal enemy of the author" which resulted in Sanders's hasty decision to destroy many of the copies. As Howes states, "The sensitive author, chagrined over some scornful critique of his book, strove to suppress the 1812 edition."
Siebert Sale 225. 16 Rosenbach 192. Howes S84aa. Streeter Sale 727. Church 1306. Field 1351. McCorison 1420. Sabin 76366. Item #40575
Price: $1,500.00