1808 · London
by [Stewart, John
London: Printed for Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, 1808. xii,305pp. plus 16,[2]pp. of publisher's advertisements dated 1810. Contemporary paper-covered boards, rebacked with modern matching paper, spine gilt. Boards worn at the edges. Contemporary ownership signature on front free endpaper. Scattered foxing and soiling. Good. Untrimmed. John Stewart lived on Jamaica for twenty-one years, and he presents here a thorough description of the island, its government, laws, religion, climate, soil, the earthquakes to which it is susceptible, the military situation on the island, its vegetation and animals, towns and villages, the planter class, and its native and mixed- race populations. Much of the interest in this text has to do with his assessment of the slaves on the island. He asserts that the condition of slaves has greatly improved, and that Jamaicans were being unfairly criticized due to past conditions. "He gives good accounts of the various social and professional groups there, the interests and work of each, and details of town and planter life. The pictures drawn are rather uncomplimentary to the proprietors and to the Established Church, with the result that the book stirred up great wrath locally" - Ragatz. SABIN 35557. RAGATZ, p.234. CUNDALL 285
(Inventory #: WRCAM48409)