Five Years' Residence in the Canadas: including A Tour through Part of The United States of America, in theyear 1823

London. Printed for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, Brown andGreen. 1824. 1st Edition. Hardcover. 8vo. 23cm, The First Edition, in 2 volumes, xvi,419 &vii,400pp., with 2 aquatint frontis views, 2p. plan, in the originalpublisher's boards, paper labels, (worn), uncut and partly unopened,original owner's signature on the front paste down endpapers, clean, ina clamshell box of half crushed dark green morocco, gilt decorated wideraised bands, gilt corner and center decorations in the panels, crimsoncrushed morocco labels, gilt titles, marbled boards, fine binding, a verygood to fine set of the first edition, rare thus.(cgc) T.P.L. 1299.Dionne 1018. Gagnon 3460. Lande 824. Sabin 94229. - The two plates, whichare by T. Brown, are fine examples of early lithography. Edward Talbotwas born in Ireland in 1796, and emigrated with his family and a partyof Irish immigrants to Middlesex County, near London, Ontario, UpperCanada in 1818. He was successively a teacher and a journalist, foundingthe radical "London Sun" in 1831. He travelled extensively throughoutUpper and Lower Canada, and was only 23 when he wrote this work which waspublished in London. He describes the life in Upper Canada at the time,and gives a detailed account of the flora and fauna, climate, society,education, emigration, manners and Indians, of the Lower Canadians.Talbot's account was written with a view to giving a more realisticappraisal of the prospects and difficulties for immigrants than he feltwas afforded by a number of contemporary works. "Edward Allen Talbot, ayoung Irishman, described the trip taken by his family up the St.Lawrence in search of a new life, replacing the discouragement ofimproved gentility in Ireland. Lively impression of Montreal, Kingston,York and the London region are capped by a last description of hissolitary pedestrian return to Montreal. As a picturesque tour his bookis cheerful and entertaining. But the book was written to warn potentialemigrants of the danger of trusting agents' accounts of the new country,and to show the "semi-barbarism"of life in the settlements. This led himto brilliant humourous accounts of "bees", "Charivaris", [Chivaree], newYork's visits, tavern life, elections and agricultural practics".Waterston p42.