The Irish Emigrant. An Historical Tale Founded on Fact, 2 vols.
first edition Full contemporary calf.
1817 · Winchester, VA
by An Hibernian" [Adam Douglass?]
Winchester, VA: John T Sharrocks, J Foster Printer, 1817. First Edition.. Full contemporary calf.. Very good; some overall browning; tide mark (diminishing) to the first few leaves of both volumes; bindings scuffed; hinges are strained; a small paper flaw(?) in page 5 of volume one touching two letters.. 8vo, I - iv, [5] - 200 pp.; II - [2], [3] - 200 pp. Both volumes collate: A - M8, N4.
The copyright notice attributes authorship to Adam Douglass. He had emigrated at a young age from Belfast and settled in the US, but went back to Ireland in 1812. He returned a few years later and settled in New Market, VA, writing two books, including this one (see Wayland, A History of Shenandoah County). The last definite appearance of the book in trade (that I could locate) was in 1959 in a Midland Notes catalog (that copy defective, with a page chip affecting three lines of text; the copy of record at the AAS is also defective, lacking a leaf of text). Foster was a job printer and newspaper publisher in Winchester (see Index of Virginia Printing for a detailed biography) who left the trade in 1821. The author states in the preface: "The Emigration from Ireland to the United States has been and still is vast. No human being can love his country better than an Irishman. But oppression forces him from his home. And the sons of Columbia grant him an asylum in a land where virtue reigns triumphant, and where he can assert those rights, as a man, which heaven has implanted in his breast." It purports to be the first Irish-American novel. S&S #41151; Wright I, #1367. (Inventory #: 20141)
The copyright notice attributes authorship to Adam Douglass. He had emigrated at a young age from Belfast and settled in the US, but went back to Ireland in 1812. He returned a few years later and settled in New Market, VA, writing two books, including this one (see Wayland, A History of Shenandoah County). The last definite appearance of the book in trade (that I could locate) was in 1959 in a Midland Notes catalog (that copy defective, with a page chip affecting three lines of text; the copy of record at the AAS is also defective, lacking a leaf of text). Foster was a job printer and newspaper publisher in Winchester (see Index of Virginia Printing for a detailed biography) who left the trade in 1821. The author states in the preface: "The Emigration from Ireland to the United States has been and still is vast. No human being can love his country better than an Irishman. But oppression forces him from his home. And the sons of Columbia grant him an asylum in a land where virtue reigns triumphant, and where he can assert those rights, as a man, which heaven has implanted in his breast." It purports to be the first Irish-American novel. S&S #41151; Wright I, #1367. (Inventory #: 20141)