SELKIRK, Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of.

£1,500 · Offered by Peter Harrington · No longer available

Observations on the present State of the Highlands of Scotland, First edition, handsomely bound by Queen Charlotte's bookbinder and latterly owned by her son, Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland (1771-1851), the future (and last) King of Hanover. The Observations is Selkirk's major contribution to political economy, a response to the first wave of highland clearances.As a younger son of George III, Cumberland was never seriously expected to become king, opting rather for a military career. In 1805, he was supervising invasion defences on the south coast. As William IV had no legitimate children, and as Salic law prevented Victoria from assuming the throne of Hanover, Cumberland ruled as monarch from 1837 to 1851. The duke's engraved armorial bookplate is fixed to the front pastedown. This copy was bound by Charles Meyer, among the most prominent bookbinders in Georgian England, and features his pink paper ticket on the front free endpaper.Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of Selkirk (1771-1820), founded several Canadian settlements, including the predecessor of modern-day Winnipeg, as a refuge for emigrating highland peasants. He believed that the plight of the Scottish peasantry following the highland clearances could only be resolved by emigration. In the Observations, he argues that emigration would allow the highlanders to preserve their historic language, culture, and manners.

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