CREVECOEUR, Michel Guillaume St. Jean de (1735-1813). Letters from an American Farmer; Describing Certain Provincial Situations, Manners, and Customs, Not Generally Known. London: Thomas Davies and Lockyer Davis, 1782.

CREVECOEUR, Michel Guillaume St. Jean de (1735-1813). Letters from an American Farmer; Describing Certain Provincial Situations, Manners, and Customs, Not Generally Known. London: Thomas Davies and Lockyer Davis, 1782.

The Streeter copy of the first edition, in original boards. Crevecoeur's Letters "had a greater influence in attracting its readers to America than any other book of the period" (Vail). The maps provide the first detailed descriptions of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket. "The author was a native of Normandy, of noble birth, and came to the British Colonies at the age of sixteen. Having established himself on a farm near the frontier, he became one of the first victims of the War of Independence, the Indian allies of Great Britain setting fire and destroying his property. He wrote his letters during the different epochs of the war, in English. Returning to France, he translated them into French" (Sabin). Clark Old South I:218; Howes C-883 ("As literature unexcelled by an American work of the eighteenth century"); Phillips Maps, pp. 389, 457; Sabin 17496; Streeter sale 711 (this copy); Vail 674.

Octavo (210 x 130mm). Half-title, 2-page publisher's advertisement at end; 2 engraved folding maps of Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard (some mild spotting, offsetting). Original boards, spine lettered in manuscript (hinges weak, light wear to corners and spine); clamshell box. Provenance: Joseph Heath (ownership signature to inside cover and [mostly erased] to title) – Thomas W. Streeter (bookplate, his sale, Parke-Bernet, 11 April 1967, lot 711) – sold to "J.M.R." (Streeter purchase price recorded on inside cover) – Swann Galleries (2 February 2006, lot 233).

Pre-Lot Text
PROPERTY OF A PRIVATE COLLECTOR IN TEXAS