ANONYMOUS

The Four Kings of Canada. Being a Succinct Account of the Four Indian Princes lately arriv'd from North America. WITH a particular Description of their Country, their strange and remarkable Religion, Feasts, Marriages, Burials, Remedies for their Sick, Customs, Manners, Constitution, Habits, Sports, War, Peace, Policy, Hunting, Fishing, Utensils belonging to the Savages, with several other Extraordinary Things worthy of Observation, as to the natural or curious Productions, Beauty, or Fertility, of that Part of the World...

London: Printed and sold by John Baker, 1710. Reprinted J.E. Garratt & Co. 1891. 4to. (7 1/2 x 5 1/8 inches). 47,[1]p., Garret publisher ad.

Original printed wrappers

This reprint was limited to 250 copies. (First edition, 1710, 1 folio sheet, very rare). Four Iroquois chiefs, (the fifth died en route) were taken to London by Col. Peter Schuyler of Albany. They were presented to Queen Anne on April 19, 1710, and entertained for some months. (The Tatler, no. 171 and The Spectator, no 50), as part of Schuyler's policy to strenghten the Iroquois alliance against the French. It provided a great deal of contemporary detail about Native American culture, specifically within the Iroquois tribe. "... and attached great observations throughout the kingdom (Spectator & Tatler) ... Dean Swift, in his letters to Stella, also makes reference to the subject ..." (Sabin). "... Portraits of these sachems (denoting the first, best, or most important in a set) engraved contemporaneously at London in folio, did not form a part of this account". (Howes).

Lande 228; T.P.L.145; Sabin 25282; Howes C-106; Not in Streeter.

Item #42843

Price: $400.00