Available Copies from Independent Booksellers
JARED SPARKS. THE LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD THE AMERICAN TRAVELLER. HILLIARD AND BROWN, CAMBRIDGE, 1829.
Price: US$70.00 + shipping
Condition: Good
Description: BUCKRAM REBIND IS NICE BUT BOOK ITSELF IS ONLY GOOD BECAUSE OF THE WAY THE PAPER HAS TURNED DARKER. LAST PAGE HAS TORN CORNER. FRONT PAGE HAS A FADED DAMPSTAIN.
Seller: Nemona Collectables, SAN FRANCISCO, CA, U.S.A.
Price: US$299.95 + shipping
Condition: Fair
Description: Second edition of this life of John Ledyard, the famous sailor on Cook's third voyage and author of one of the very few published accounts of Cook's discoveries. This specific edition is not cited by Beddie, who records (1659-1662) London and Cambridge editions of 1828 as well as a London "second" edition of 1834, yet from inventory for sale in 2017, this American edition/printing provides a significant portion of total antique book market for this title. John Ledyard (1751-1789), the Connecticut traveler and adventurer, was one of the first great American explorers. He accompanied Cook's third expedition as a marine/sailor, and so visited the Pacific, the Northwest Coast, Alaska, and Hawaii, where he was one of the oarsmen in the boat which took Cook ashore for the parley at which he was murdered. With this as a background, he continued to expand his exploration of the globe and promote international trade adding to the legend of Yankee ingenuity. Jared Sparks (1789-1866) was an American historian, educator, and Unitarian minister. He served as President of Harvard College (now Harvard University) from 1849 to 1853. He compiled this biography from the original journals and documents possessed by the Ledyard family. Hardcover exterior is contemporary calf. Covers worn, and scuffed, covers detached from text but present, spine chipped in several places with 1" detached at foot, leather label present and still readable. Contents are free of notes, but age-toned and foxed throughout, soiling to page-ends and to a few text pages, text is complete and binding is holding. Pages are fragile with chips from page-edges. However, end-pages, including both fly-leaves, have been removed. This has caused the separation of cover from text. Stored & will be shipped in plastic storage bag to preserve book for your restoration. Copyright November 24, 1827 in the U.S.A. with state of Massachusetts. Stated Second Edition. No ISBN, LCCN nor MSR.
Seller: Bargain Finders of Colorado, Simla, CO, U.S.A.
Price: US$468.00 + shipping
Description: John Ledyard, the Connecticut traveler and adventurer, was one of the earliest great American explorers. He sailed with Captain James Cook on his third voyage, and so visited the Pacific, the Northwest and Alaska and witness to the discovery of Hawaii. It is said that he was an oarsman on the boat that deposited Cook ashore for his fatal interchange with the Hawaiians, and so he witnessed the great explorer's demise. An inveterate traveler, Ledyard attempted to cross over to America by traversing Russia, at Thomas Jefferson's behest. He later disappeared while exploring the Nile in 1789. The writing of Ledyard's biography was eventually to come to Sparks, a noted American historian. A substantial portion of the text relates to Cook's third voyage, and contains critical comments on Ledyard's narrative found nowhere else. Second edition, London and Cambridge editions of 1828 as well as a London "second" edition of 1834; Holmes 86 (1828 edition), Howes S818. Sabin 88991. Lada-Mocarski 92 (ref). Forbes HAWAII 739. 8vo, xii, 310pp. Orig. brown floral patterned cloth expertly rebacked, tasteful but modern title label.
Seller: Antipodean Books, Maps & Prints, ABAA, Garrison, NY, U.S.A.