1818 · Montréa
by [Wilcocke, Samuel Hull
Montréa, 1818. xi,137,89pp. Original stiff wrappers, printed paper label. Old library stamps on title-leaf. A fine copy. In a gilt suede folding box, leather label. From the collection of Louis Joseph Papineau, the Chief of the Insurgents. Also with the ownership signature of French patriot Francis Des Rivieres, otherwise known as "La Victime des Donjons." First Montreal edition, after the first London edition of the previous year. This pamphlet presents a brief outline of the establishment and growth of the Selkirk Colony from 1812, and attempts to defend and justify the North West Company's actions as the natural consequence of the encroachments, hostilities, and provocations of Lord Selkirk and the Hudson's Bay Company. Although sometimes attributed to Simon McGillivary and Edward Ellice the elder, the work was probably prepared by Samuel Hull Wilcocke, "a hack-writer in the employ of the North-West Company" (TPL). The pamphlet was issued under the direction of the London representatives of the North West Company to counter charges of unwarranted aggression and destruction of the Selkirk settlement on the Red River, leveled against them by John Halkett in his STATEMENT RESPECTING THE EARL OF SELKIRK'S SETTLEMENT (1817).
The Streeter copy sold to parties unknown for $100 in 1969. LANDE 1513. TPL 1109. PEEL 50. STREETER SALE 3679. VLACH 1098. GAGNON I:2940. SABIN 20699. (Inventory #: WRCAM20723)
The Streeter copy sold to parties unknown for $100 in 1969. LANDE 1513. TPL 1109. PEEL 50. STREETER SALE 3679. VLACH 1098. GAGNON I:2940. SABIN 20699. (Inventory #: WRCAM20723)