signed first edition Woodcut vignette to title-page. 7, [blank] pp. Small 4to
1757 · Lisboa
by (Seven Years' War) Johnson, William
Lisboa: [Domingos Rodrigues], 1757. First edition. Woodcut vignette to title-page. 7, [blank] pp. Small 4to. A very good copy, some very faint dampstaining. First edition. Woodcut vignette to title-page. 7, [blank] pp. Small 4to. THE BATTLE OF LAKE GEORGE. A Portuguese translation of General William Johnson's "Letter to the Governours of the Several Colonies who raised Troops on the Present Expedition" signed in the text "Wilhelmo Gonson."
Not long after the commencement of the Seven Years' War, Johnson was appointed British agent to the Iroquois. On 28 August 1755, he renamed Lac Saint Sacrement Lake George in honor of the British monarch, and proceeded north as part of a four-pronged attack on the French, specifically to capture the French-held Fort St. Frédéric at Crown Point.
"It was not the greatest battle of the French and Indian War, but it came when a victory was needed, and the results were momentous. It retrieved both the glory and morale so badly depleted when Braddock fell at the forks of the Ohio the previous July. It blunted a French drive which menaced Albany and the northern frontier, set up a new English outpost in that area, and the capture of a distinguished French general [Dieskau] was triumph for the victors and humiliation for the enemy" (Hamilton).
The publication of this letter was, of course, a remarkable source of propaganda for the English and boosted Johnson's career signficantly. The letter was reprinted in London, an engraved plan of the battle was produced as well as portrait. This Lisbon printing is, however, very rare and little known. It's not in COPAC, there wasn't a copy in the Streeter Sale. In fact, the last copy on the market we can find was in 1928. Not in Church; Sabin, 38661; Maggs "Biblioteca Americana" IV, 2998; Milton W. Hamilton, "Battle Report: Genreal William Johnson's Letter to the Governors, Lake George, September 9-10, 1755" in Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society, April 1964, pp 19-36 (Inventory #: 303318)
Not long after the commencement of the Seven Years' War, Johnson was appointed British agent to the Iroquois. On 28 August 1755, he renamed Lac Saint Sacrement Lake George in honor of the British monarch, and proceeded north as part of a four-pronged attack on the French, specifically to capture the French-held Fort St. Frédéric at Crown Point.
"It was not the greatest battle of the French and Indian War, but it came when a victory was needed, and the results were momentous. It retrieved both the glory and morale so badly depleted when Braddock fell at the forks of the Ohio the previous July. It blunted a French drive which menaced Albany and the northern frontier, set up a new English outpost in that area, and the capture of a distinguished French general [Dieskau] was triumph for the victors and humiliation for the enemy" (Hamilton).
The publication of this letter was, of course, a remarkable source of propaganda for the English and boosted Johnson's career signficantly. The letter was reprinted in London, an engraved plan of the battle was produced as well as portrait. This Lisbon printing is, however, very rare and little known. It's not in COPAC, there wasn't a copy in the Streeter Sale. In fact, the last copy on the market we can find was in 1928. Not in Church; Sabin, 38661; Maggs "Biblioteca Americana" IV, 2998; Milton W. Hamilton, "Battle Report: Genreal William Johnson's Letter to the Governors, Lake George, September 9-10, 1755" in Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society, April 1964, pp 19-36 (Inventory #: 303318)
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