A GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE WEST-INDIAN ISLANDS, AS FAR AS RELATES TO THE BRITISH, DUTCH, AND DANISH GOVERNMENTS, FROM THE BARBADOS TO SAINT CROIX, ATTEMPTED IN BLANK VERSE

by Singleton, John:

Price: $7,500.00
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Book description: Barbados: Printed by George Esmand and William Walker, 1767.. [4],159pp. Quarto. Antique calf tolled in gilt and blind, rebacked, with old, elaborately gilt backstrip laid down, leather labels. Edges a bit worn. An occasional fox mark, but generally very clean and nice. Very good. This is certainly the first literary work of any size to be both written and printed in the West Indies. The first "book" gives a general description of life in the West Indies (including a barbecue); the second describes Montserrat, where the author spent much time, with a glimpse at the islands visible from its peak (Saba, St. Eustatia, Nevis, St. Kitt, Antigua, and Guadeloupe); the third describes the voyage to St. Croix and the islands visited, while the fourth describes Barbados. Also included are descriptions of traffic in slaves, culinary habits, pirates, and local customs. A most unusual production for the early West Indian press, printed in Bridgetown, Barbados in 1767. Barbados was the third Caribbean island to have a press, after Cuba and Jamaica, with printing beginning in 1730. The printer of this book, George Esmand, was the third printer there, beginning in 1762. This is quite a large and lavish production for early Caribbean printing and, although quite rare, it turns up more often than other 18th-century Caribbean imprints (which is still not very often). CUNDALL 2064. RAGATZ, p.234. SABIN 81426. SWAN, CARIBBEAN PRINTING, p.18.

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