The History of the American Indians; Particularly Those Nations adjoining to the Mississippi, East and West Florida, Georgia, South and North Carolina, and Virginia: Containing An Account of their Origin, Language, Manners, Religious and Civil Customs .. by Adair, James - 1775

London: Printed for Edward and Charles Dilly, 1775. First edition. Folding map frontispiece of the "American Indian Nations adjoining to the Mississippi, West & East Florida, Georgia, S. & N. Carolina, Virginia etc." [xii], 464 pp. 1 vols. 4to. Contemporary calf, neatly rebacked. Foxing to half-title, offsetting to map and title-page, else fine. First edition. Folding map frontispiece of the "American Indian Nations adjoining to the Mississippi, West & East Florida, Georgia, S. & N. Carolina, Virginia etc." [xii], 464 pp. 1 vols. 4to. "Best 18th century English source on the Southern tribes" (Sabin), written by "one of the most colorful figures in Southern colonial history" (Clark), a man who for forty years traded with the Indians. From 1735 until 1759 he traded with the Catawba, Cherokee and Chickasaw, and each of these major tribes is represented by a chapter in this work. Adair also lived with the three tribes mentioned for some years, granting his account intriguing first-hand detail. An ample portion of Adair's History is devoted to his attempt to prove the descent of the Indians from the lost tribes of Israel. Howes A38; Pilling 18; Clark I, 28; Field 11; JCB (3)I, 2013; Prucha 7847; Sabin 155; Graff 1; Vail 643