An Essay on the Natural History of Guiana
by Edward Bartholomew Bancroft (1744-1821)
- Used
- good
- Hardcover
- first
- Condition
- Good
- Seller
-
Fort Worth, Texas, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
[8]+iv+402+[2 ad] pages with frontispiece. Octavo (8 1/4" x 5 1/4") bound in contemporary calf with six raised spine bands and gilt ruled edges to covers. (Field 70; Sabin 3106) First edition.
Edward Bancroft was a Massachusetts-born physician and chemist who became a double agent, spying for both the United States and Great Britain while serving as secretary to the American Commission in Paris during the American Revolution. On July 14, 1763, after fleeing his apprenticeship, Bancroft left New England for the sugar-producing slave colonies of Dutch Guiana, where he became a plantation doctor. He soon expanded his practice to multiple plantations and wrote a study of the local environment. Based on observations of experiments already being performed on live eels by Dutch colonists in and around Surinam and Essequibo, Bancroft concluded that American eels and torpedo fish discharged electricity to stun their prey, rather than by imperceptibly swift mechanical action, as had previously been argued. Although he left South America in 1766, he published An Essay on the Natural History of Guiana, in South America in London 1769, where with the encouragement of Benjamin Franklin, he embarked on a career as a man of letters. The especial subject of the author's inquiries regarding the Indians, is the nature and use of the Wourali Poison, with which their weapons are charged.
Condition:
Moderate wear, hinges cracked with front cover detached, minor foxing, minimal damp-staining, early owner's signature on title page, later owner's bookplate on front pastedown else a good copy, internally very good.
Edward Bancroft was a Massachusetts-born physician and chemist who became a double agent, spying for both the United States and Great Britain while serving as secretary to the American Commission in Paris during the American Revolution. On July 14, 1763, after fleeing his apprenticeship, Bancroft left New England for the sugar-producing slave colonies of Dutch Guiana, where he became a plantation doctor. He soon expanded his practice to multiple plantations and wrote a study of the local environment. Based on observations of experiments already being performed on live eels by Dutch colonists in and around Surinam and Essequibo, Bancroft concluded that American eels and torpedo fish discharged electricity to stun their prey, rather than by imperceptibly swift mechanical action, as had previously been argued. Although he left South America in 1766, he published An Essay on the Natural History of Guiana, in South America in London 1769, where with the encouragement of Benjamin Franklin, he embarked on a career as a man of letters. The especial subject of the author's inquiries regarding the Indians, is the nature and use of the Wourali Poison, with which their weapons are charged.
Condition:
Moderate wear, hinges cracked with front cover detached, minor foxing, minimal damp-staining, early owner's signature on title page, later owner's bookplate on front pastedown else a good copy, internally very good.
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Details
- Bookseller
- The Book Collector ABAA, ILAB, TBA (US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- CA0259
- Title
- An Essay on the Natural History of Guiana
- Author
- Edward Bartholomew Bancroft (1744-1821)
- Book Condition
- Used - Good
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- First
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Publisher
- Printed for T Becket and P A De Hondt
- Place of Publication
- London
- Date Published
- 1769
- Pages
- [8]+iv+402+[2 ad] pages with frontispiece
- Size
- Octavo
- Weight
- 0.00 lbs
- Keywords
- Guiana
- Bookseller catalogs
- Colonial America;
Terms of Sale
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About the Seller
The Book Collector ABAA, ILAB, TBA
Biblio member since 2005
Fort Worth, Texas
About The Book Collector ABAA, ILAB, TBA
The Book Collector specializes in the finest collections of Chess, Anthropology, Americana and American Literature. Visit our website at www.bookcollectorshop.com
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Bookplate
- Highly sought after by some collectors, a book plate is an inscribed or decorative device that identifies the owner, or former...
- Gilt
- The decorative application of gold or gold coloring to a portion of a book on the spine, edges of the text block, or an inlay in...
- Edges
- The collective of the top, fore and bottom edges of the text block of the book, being that part of the edges of the pages of a...
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
- First Edition
- In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
- Cracked
- In reference to a hinge or a book's binding, means that the glue which holds the opposing leaves has allowed them to separate,...
- New
- A new book is a book previously not circulated to a buyer. Although a new book is typically free of any faults or defects, "new"...
- Calf
- Calf or calf hide is a common form of leather binding. Calf binding is naturally a light brown but there are ways to treat the...
- Title Page
- A page at the front of a book which may contain the title of the book, any subtitles, the authors, contributors, editors, the...
- Octavo
- Another of the terms referring to page or book size, octavo refers to a standard printer's sheet folded four times, producing...