Lot 357: LATROBE, Christian Ignatius (1758-1836). Autograph letter signed, to an unnamed correspondant

LATROBE, Christian Ignatius (1758-1836). Autograph letter signed, to an unnamed correspondant, London 14 June 1817, 4pp., 4to, explaining that lack of time is the reason that he has not yet published his journal, speculating that there are already too many accounts of the area, but going on to say 'Yet if I had time, I would set about it, even under every disadvantage, to comply with the wishes of those I respect & love.' The remainder of the letter takes the form of a survey of the various United Bretheren missions: in South Africa, at the Cape of Good Hope and Genadendal ('Gnadenthal'); in the Caribbean (Barbados, Jamaica, Antigua and 'the Danish Islands'), Canada, Labrador and Greenland.

Christian Ignatius LATROBE. Journal of a visit to South Africa, in 1815 and 1816. With some account of the missionary settlements of the United Brethren, near the Cape of Good Hope. New York: Clayton & Kingsland for James Eastburn & Co., 1818. 8° (214 x 133mm). Extra-illustrated with later cut-down but folding map of the south of Africa mounted onto front free endpaper. (Inner blank margins of title and 15 following leaves torn with loss.) Contemporary marbled sheep (spine worn, upper cover detatched). Provenance: Missionary Society (inscription on title). ?First U.S. edition of Latrobe's account of his visit to the two existing mission stations in South Africa and his quest for a site for a third. (2)

No VAT on hammer price or buyer's premium