Memoir of the Life and Public Services of Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, F.R.S., etc. Particularly in the Government of Java.
London: John Murray, 1830.
Price: $4,500.00
About the item
First edition. Portrait frontispiece, 3 maps, 1 chart, 1 engraved plate and 5 aquatint plates including the large folding view of Singapore. xv, [i], [1]-723, 99pp. 1 vols. 4to (11-1/4 x 9-1/4 inches). Original drab publisher's cloth, a little stained, neatly rebacked, retaining the original paper printed label. Quarter crimson morocco drop box. Abbey, Travel 555; Bastin & Brommer 81.
Item #314831
First edition of this "glowing and detailed biography" (ODNB) by the second wife of Sir Thomas Raffles (1781-1826), British colonial governor and founder of Singapore. With only scant formal schooling, Raffles relied upon his prodigious natural intelligence and energy as he worked his way from East India House clerk to Lieutenant-Governor of Java. In 1819 he founded Singapore, "which secured British supremacy in the eastern seas for more than a century and represented a triumph for the principles of free trade and laissez-faire" (ODNB).
