Recherches Philosophiques sur les Américains, ou Mémoires Intéressants pour Servir à l'Histoire de l'Espece Humaine. Par Mr. de P***. Avec une Dissertation sur l'Amérique & les Américains, par Dom Pernety. Et la Defense de l'Auteur des Recherches contre cette Dissertation.
Berlin: 1770.
Price: $750.00
About the item
Second edition. xxii, (2), 326, (26); (2), 366, (32); 136, 256 pp. 3 vols. 12mo. Contemporary sheep, with raised bands, leather title lables, volume numbers and dates stamped in gold. Covers well rubbed, joints cracked but holding, end leaves discolored, and some pages rumpled, half inch piece missing from p. 47-48, vol. 1, not effecting the text. Bookplate of John Coakley Lettsom. Sabin 59242, Howes P-141.
Item #264666
In spite of never having traveled to the American continent, de Pauw was considered a foremost expert on the new world and its natives, wildlife, climate, and vegetation. “The author endeavors to show the inferior character of everything American, especially the inhabitants” (Sabin). A fascinating document in the early study of colonial America.
All three volumes bear the bookplate of John Coakley Lettsom (1744-1815), author, physician, and philanthropist, a Quaker who maintained an “extensive correspondence with (among others) George Washington, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, Erasmus Darwin, and Albrecht von Haller” (ODNB).
