Scenes in America, for the Amusement and Instruction of Little Tarry-at-Home Travellers

Hartford, Connecticut: Silas Andrus, 1825. First American Edition. Hardcover. Good. 12mo 7" - 7. Quite scarce in the trade. First American Edition from the juvenile "Scenes" series of travelogues by the author (and illustrator), the minister Isaac Taylor (1759-1829). Bluish marbled paper over boards, leather backed, twice, tips, edges, spine head and foot rubbed and scuffed, some loss of paper to rear bottom tip. Engraved folding map of the Americas at front, light chipping to edges, lovely wood-engraved title-page vignette of a European ship sailing to and meeting an Indian, and then another 78 wood-engraved illustrations on 26 plates strewn throughout, depicting scenes of travel and exploration, industry and manufacture. Ex-libris bookplate inside front flap. The work was published first in England in 1821 and went through additional printings and editions, including 1822 and 1824. In racing prose, the author highlights early travelogues so as to hook especially young readers by reference to explorers such as Columbus, Cortes, Balboa and Lewis and Clark, and then to American Indians, Hudson Bay, the West Indies and other places and regions. Short discussion of the Black Kings of Hayti (Haiti). vi, [7]-117, [1] pp.Member, I.O.B.A., C.B.A., and adherent to the highest ethical standards. Additional postage may be required for oversize or especially heavy volumes, and for sets.