Beskrifning om de Swenska forsamlingars forna och narwarande tilstand

1759. ACRELIUS, ISRAEL. Beskrifning om de Swenska forsamlingars forna och narwarande tilstand, uti det sa kallade Nya Swerige, sedan Nya Nederland, men nu for tiden Pensylvanien, samt nastliggande orter wid aelfwen De aa Ware, Wast-Yersey och New-Castle County uti Norra America.... Stockholm: Harberg & Hesselberg, 1759. 4to. [20], 449 [i.e., 448], 479-533, [1] p. Full burgundy morocco, inner dentelles and edges gilt. A rather heavily foxed copy. Early John Carter Brown oval stamp on second leaf and bookplate and tiny deaccession stamp on front endpaper. First edition of the best early account of the Swedish settlements on the Delaware River, and the most comprehensive and accurate history of New Sweden until Amandus Johnson's Swedish Settlements on the Delaware (1911). Acrelius came to America in 1749 as provost of the Swedish churches on the Delaware, and served as pastor of a church in Wilmington until 1756, when he returned to Sweden. A full English translation of the work was published in 1874. Howes A34; JCB(III) I, 1202; Vail 528; Felcone, New Jersey Books (2nd edn.), 1.