SMITH, John.

by John Smith

£18,950 · Offered by Sokol Books

First German edition of John Smith's Description of New England, (1616), with a superb map of the territory copied from Smith's original and with a German key, which is excellently preserved and rare to find still with the original printed work. The map depicts a stretch of New England coastline, from Pembroke's Bay in the north to Cape Cod in the south, and settlements including Boston and Plymouth. There is a glossary within the printed book of place names in New England giving the 'old' names in Indian language and the updated English names, clearly intended for use alongside the map and not included in the English first edition. The map also contains a portrait of Smith aged 37, with the poem by John Davies translated into German. The wonderful plate portraying the wildlife of New England includes a porcupine, beaver, leopard, bear, and various birds including an eagle and even a gryphon. Smith describes his voyage to New England from London in April 1614 with two ships of merchants, arriving at Monheghan Island in Maine. Their intention was to mine for gold and copper and hunt whales, or, failing that, fish and furs; it was the latter that they found in great quantities, and having explored up and down the coast, returned to England after six months’ voyage. Smith then returned with a small group of captains, named here, for a second voyage in 1615, in which he describes his interactions with Dohannida, a powerful Native American chief who had actually lived in England f

• Binding: Hardcover

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