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London: R. and J. Dodsley, 1755. First edition (all published). Quarto (9 3/8" x 7 5/16", 239mm x 186mm): binder's blank, A2 B-M4, binder's blank [$2 signed]. 46 leaves, pp. [4] (title, blank, 2pp. contents), 1 2-88. Bound in modern speckled calf with a double gilt fillet border by Bayntun of Bath. On the spine, two raised bands. Title, author and date gilt to the second panel. All edges of the text-block glazed yellow. Damp-stain along the spine and lower edges of the binding and text-block, quite pale and not affecting the text. Perhaps washed. Author's name in blue ball-point ink to the title-page. Bookplate of Ernest Keet to the recto of the front paste-down. George Marie Butel-Dumont published in 1755 the Histoire et commerce des colonies angloises dans l'Amerique septentrionale, a conspectus of English settlement along the east coast. The French focus on American colonization was preparatory to the Seven Years' War, the larger global conflict that included the French and Indian War (as it is usually called in anglophone sources), which began in 1754. Despite the roughly comparable landmasses colonized by France and Britain, a mere sixty thousand people lived in the French territories compared to two million in the British. The present work is in part a translation of that title. A map, intended for the second part (never published), is sometimes included with the work but is not integral to it. The identity of the author -- though bibliographies do not specify whether this is the translator as well -- is a matter of some debate; Sabin and the John Carter Brown catalogue attribute it to John Huske (?1692-1761), the British Museum catalogue and DNB attribute it to Ellis Huske (1700-1755), the Library of Congress to Ellis's son John Huske (?1721-1773). There is also something of a muddle over editions, following, perhaps, some errors in Sabin (e.g., that the second edition is an octavo, and that the first has an erroneous 1735 imprint). The present work, which is in fact the first edition, has been called the second London edition; that is distinguishable with the addition of "The SECOND EDITION, with EMENDATIONS." to the title-page. Ex-coll. Ernest E. Keet, from whose landmark sale of Canadiana in benefit of his Cloudsplitter Foundation(Christie's New York, 27 June 2024) the present item was acquired (lot 127). ESTC T44222; Howes H 840; Lande, Canadiana S1108. Seller Inventory # JLR0645
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