The Life and Adventures of Peter Wilkins; or the History of the Flying Islanders. Taken from his own Mouth, in his Passage to England, from off Cape Horn in America, in the Hector. By R. S. a Passenger in the Hector

Boston: Published by Baker & Alexander. Rufus Colton, Printer, Woodstock, VT, 1828. First American edition. Frontispieces engraved by David Claypoole Johnston. Illustrated titles. These plates are considered the first fantastic or "fantasy" plates published in America. 2 vols. Sm. 12mo. Original rose cloth-backed boards, printed paper labels (worn). Cloth faded with some tears, binding rubbed, inner hinges of first volume broken, front free endpaper there lacking, shaken, a tear on p.86/7 with loss affecting 4 lines of text, some browning and staining, generally light and in the second volume. With the signature of Francis H. Hunston dated 1834 on endpaper. Brown cloth and marbled paper open end case. First American edition. Frontispieces engraved by David Claypoole Johnston. Illustrated titles. These plates are considered the first fantastic or "fantasy" plates published in America. 2 vols. Sm. 12mo. The adventures (or mis-adventures) of Wilkins from his life in Cornwall to his journeys and shipwrecks at sea to Africa and slavery and to the land of the flying islanders, the Glums and Gawrys. The illustrations depict these flying beings. Originally published in 1751 with illustrations by Louis Philippe Boitard. Written in imitation of "Gulliver's Travels" and "Robinson Crusoe" this romantic and imaginative work soon became very popular. Coleridge, Leigh Hunt, Charles Lamb, Sir Walter Scott and Southey were great admirers of this work. In Southey's "Curse of Kehama," his "Glendoveers "were based upon the "Gawrys."

David Claypoole Johnston, engraver (1797-1865) is best known for his annual publication, "Scraps," first issued in 1830. He earned the nickname "The American Cruikshank" from his caricatures. (Fielding "Dictionary of American Painters ... "). Bleiler p. 162; Sabin 58394; Shaw and Shoemaker 34637; Rhanders-Pehrson 13 " ... the story of Peter Wilkins is one of the best known among the early aviation novels.