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Catalogue
74
America
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6.
AMHERST, JEFFERY. Engraved portrait. London, J & J Boydell,
c. 1795. Matted and framed, and laid down. Portrait is 43 cm x 32
cm (17"x 12½"); total matted area is 60 cm x 48.5
cm (23½" x 19"); attractive black frame lightly
gilt at edges, with a little wear; framing done by Goodspeed's,
Boston in 1961 (label on rear); slight abrasion to lower margin
of plate, just touching imprint (no loss). Engraved by James Cookson,
after the portrait by Sir Joshua Reynolds. $1,500
Engraved description at foot of portrait reads: "Sir Jeffery
Amherst, K.B./ Commander in Chief of the British Forces in America
from 1759 to 1764;/ Created Baron Amherst of Holmesdale in Kent
1776;/ Governor of Guernsey; Colonel of the 2nd Regiment of Life
Guards, and Colonel in Chief of the 60th. or Royal American Regiment;/
General Commanding [sic] in Chief of the British Troops in England
from 1778 to 1782;/ And again from January 1793 to February 1795."
The portrait shows Amherst in his armour, with his helmet resting
on a map of Montreal and environs, which American forces under General
Montgomery had captured in 1775.
Amherst was sent to North America in 1758 as a major-general to
lead the Louisburg campaign during the Seven Years' War. The capture
of this fortress gave Britain her first important victory in the
war, and Amherst replaced James Abercromby as supreme commander
in America. In 1759, pushing northward from Albany, he took Crown
Point and Ticonderoga, but arrived too late to help James Wolfe
take Quebec. In 1760 he directed the capture of Montreal and returned
to England in 1763. In the American Revolution he was asked, but
refused, to command British troops in New England. In recognition
of his services he was named to the sinecure governorship of Virginia,
a position he held for a short time. Towns in Massachusetts and
New Hampshire, and a county in Virginia, were named in his honour.
"In appearance, Amherst was tall and spare; his complexion
was florid and his nose large and aquiline. There is a portrait
of him by Reynolds; also a sketch by the same artist." -(DAB
I: 258).
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7.
[ANON]. A Letter to an Honourable Brigadier General, Commander
in Chief to His Majesty's Forces in Canada. London, Printed for
J. Burd, 1760. $850
8vo; f, pp. 31, [1] (Errata); later marbled paper over boards; light
age-browning; a fine copy.
Sabin 36903, TPL 6476, Lande 480 (all under "Junius");
Howes L284; Dionne II: 642; Gagnon I: 2101; Cordasco, Junius Bibliography,
170. The work is variously attributed to the anonymous "Junius",
as well as to Charles Lee, Henry Fox or Thomas Pownall. "The
Brigadier General referred to was Lord George Townsend who succeeded
to the command of the British forces after the death of Wolfe and
wounding of Monckton, and against whom the writer makes serious
charges of incompetence during the operations immediately following
the British victory at Quebec." - (Stevens, H., Rare Americana
(1927): 446).
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8.
[ANON]. Certain Inducements to Well Minded People who are
here Straitned [sic] in their Estates or otherwise: or Such as are
willing, out of Noble and Publike Principles, to transport Themselves
or some Servants, or Agents for them into the West Indies, for the
Propagating of the Gospel and Increase of Trade. [London, ?1644],
but New York, Joseph Sabin, 1865. One of 250 copies printed. $100
4to; pp. 24; self-wrapper, with date of 1643; some chipping to edges;
but very good.
Sabin 11709; JCB II, p. 315; Wing C1701. The original edition of
1644, of which this is a reprint, had 16 pages. The anonymous author
gives a glowing report of the crops, climate, fish, etc. of the
islands of the West Indies in an attempt to encourage English settlers
into this area. This reprint has itself become fairly scarce.
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9.
[ANON]. Considerations on the Approach of War, and the Conduct
of His Majesty's Ministers. London, J. Debrett, 1791. $975
8vo; f, pp. 40; recent paper-covered boards; faint dampstaining
to text.
Not in Sabin. The unknown author here mounts an attack on Pitt for
his intended war with Russia and her allies, in order to maintain
the balance of power in Europe. On page 20, the author refers to
the fact that Pitt had known of "a gross and outrageous insult
[that] has been offered to the British flag by a Spanish officer
at Nootka Sound" but had done nothing about it, because he
claimed that "the complaint had been communicated to him at
the time, but not the particulars of aggravation". This is
quite possibly a reference to the dispute between John Meares and
the Spaniards, which led, in 1790, to the Nootka Agreement.
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10.
[ANON]. Remarks Upon the Present Negotiations of Peace Begun
between Britain and France. London, [Privately Printed], 1711. First
edition. $1,275
8vo; f, pp. 35; old marbled paper wrappers; text lightly age-browned;
blank verso of final leaf little dusty; half-title wanting.
European-Americana 711/177; TPL 147; Goldsmiths' 4837; Kress 2743;
not in Sabin, JCB, Lande, Casey; not mentioned in Davenport, European
Treaties....; Stevens (1927), Catalogue of Rare Americana, 671:
"Secretly printed and extremely rare ... the writer [expresses]
his concern at the exorbitant power of France, her trading advantages
in the West Indies, and her growing influence in Canada and with
the Indians of that country." When the "Preliminary Articles
to the Treaty of Utrecht" foreshadowed the end of the War of
the Spanish Succession, feelings in England ran high that the ensuing
Treaty would permit French control of Spain, the Spanish colonies,
and all of the colonial trade. This diatribe voices this concern,
and states unequivocally, "That the present Proposals of Peace,
or any future Proposals of what kind soever, That Shall Leave Spain
and the Indies to the Home of Bourbon, ought by every true English-man
to be rejected with Scorn and Indignation."
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