Travels in America, Performed in 1806, for the Purpose of Exploring the Rivers Alleghany, Monongahela, Ohio and Mississippi, and Ascertaining the Produce and Condition of their Banks and Vicinity

Ashe, Thomas (1770-1835)

Published by Re-printed for W. Sawyer & Co. by E.M. Blunt, 1808

About this Item

ix+366 pages. Small octavo ( (7 1/4" x 4 1/4") in the original leather binding with black label in gilt to spine. (Howes:354) First printed in 1806 in London in three volumes. Second printing. Thomas Ashe (1770-1835), was born in Dublin, Ireland and was a soldier and memoirist. Much of his life was checkered with intrigue and fraud. His Memoirs and Confessions (1815) is an autobiographical account of "criminal and delinquent" escapades beginning with the seduction of a girl in France. In America he edited the National Intelligencer, and was arrested when attempting to steal treasures from churches in Latin America. His Travels in America first appeared in 1806. The narrative, chronicles Ashe's travels by flatboat down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers in 1806 and is one of the first travelogues written by a foreigner to comment specifically on the American inhabitants of the region. A unrestrained hatred of Americans can be found throughout the work. While the account is interesting and highly readable it was to create quite a stir, and added to the wave of anti-British sentiment that would ultimately lead to the War of 1812. Condition: Leather boards well worn, corners bumped and rubbed, some foxing, previous owner's lengthy note in pencil to front end paper. A good copy of an early travelogue on America. Seller Inventory # E0058

Bibliographic Details

Title: Travels in America, Performed in 1806, for ...

Publisher: Re-printed for W. Sawyer & Co. by E.M. Blunt

Publication Date: 1808

Binding: Hardcover

Condition: Good