AUCHINCLOSS, William Stuart.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

Ninety Days in the Tropics, or Letters from Brazil. First edition of this photographically illustrated travelogue, written by an American businessman and intended to promote trade between North and South America; uncommon in commerce and a particularly well-preserved copy.William Stuart Auchincloss (1842-1928) was an American engineer, the vice president of the Jackson & Sharp Co. Delaware Car Works, who visited Brazil at the time of the construction of railways in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. He published extensively, both professionally on the technical aspects of steam engineering and on the range of his theological interests, from Bible chronology to detailed exegesis. Ninety Days in the Tropics is presented as a collection of letters offering his impressions of a given location, starting with St Thomas, progressing via Pará and Pernambuco to Rio, and on to "The Uplands of Brazil" and São Paulo. His commentary is that of an observant and well-informed foreign tourist, well-meaning but occasionally at odds with local customs and attitudes. This copy concludes with a transcript of "A Lecture on the Importance of Extending and Developing our Commercial Relations with South America. Delivered at the Request of the Wilmington Board of Trade... April 13, 1875", evidently an addition to this issue.The author explains in his preface that he bought the photographs selected to illustrate his book in "a local bookstore or photographic gallery". Most are typical views - a street in

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