A Diary in America, with Remarks on its Institutions. In Three Volumes by MARRYAT, Capt - 1839

London: Longman, Orme, Brown, Green, & Longmans, 1839. First Edition. Hardcover. Very good +. First and second series. 6 vols.: 321; 304; 319; 293; 311; 362 p. 20 cm. Two fold-out maps. Half black cloth with marbled boards. Gilt trim and 5 raised bands on spines. Bindings signed by Zaehnsdorf, London, England. Marbled endpapers match paper on boards. Top edges gilt. Very light wear to extremities. Small tear in fold-out map in Vol. I Pt. 2. Labels of former owner on front pages. Slight foxing.

By the time Frederick Marryat toured the United States and Canada in 1837-38, he had already attained the status of famous novelist in Britain. He published this diary of travels shortly after his return to England. His comments on the Americans and their institutions are often not complimentary: "At five o'clock we arrived at Syracuse. I do detest these old names vamped up. Why do not the Americans take the Indian names? They need not be so very scrupulous about it; they have robbed the Indians of everything else" (Vol. I Pt. 1 p. 154). The first fold-out map (Vol. I Pt. 2) shows "Aboriginal America" with the various native tribes in their respective geographical areas. Second fold-out map (Vol. II Pt. 2) shows central Florida as the seat of hostilities between the Seminoles and the United States. Binding by Joseph Zaehnsdorf (1816-1886), originally from Austria-Hungary, later owner of a bindery in London.