Narrative of John R Jewitt 1815 [ Shipwreck , Native Captivity , Canada ]

Description

Well preserved copy of the Narrative of John R Jewitt , the Massachusetts blacksmith and shipwreck survivor held in captivity the natives of Vancouver Island for two years

 

[ Alsop, Richard, ed.] Narrative of the adventures and sufferings of John R. Jewitt ; only survivor of the crew of the ship Boston, during a captivity of nearly three years among the savages of Nootka Sound with an account of the manners, mode of living and religious opinions of the natives. Embellished with ten engravings. Printed for the Publisher : New York. 1815.

 

 

The later, expanded edition of Alsop’s description of the ill-fated voyage of John R Jewitt — armorer and blacksmith aboard the ship Boston.

Departing from New England in 1802, the ship arrived in Nootka Sound off today’s Vancouver Island in March, 1803, not long after the crew’s starving captain shot and killed an albatross. Following initially cordial relations with the local, English-comprehending Native people, disputes over trade relations and previous European abuses boiled over into violence.

All but one of the other crew members were killed, with the survivors taken as the tribe’s slaves until their rescue in 1805. John R Jewitt, an educated and curious observer, made note of many interesting cultural details from his time with the Nootka, including a Nootka to English key at the start of the work, and the transcription of a contemporary war song.

12mo, 166pp, original printed paper boards, green cloth spine with original title label. Wear to edges and corners, some scratches to faces. Corners bumped, lower rear corner bent. First free endpaper missing top for corner. Pages tanned and foxed. Ownership signature “H. Jacobs” on top and bottom margin of title page bleeding forward and backward into margins of the opposing ship portrait frontis and prior two endpapers as well as the following three pages. Very good condition.

 

If you liked this book, you might also like this copy of an early narrative of life in Paraguay under the Dictator Francia.