Details
[INDIAN CAPTIVITIES]. Five Indian captivity narratives published prior to 1860, comprising:
CORNELIUS, Elias. The Little Osage Captive, an Authentic Narrative. Boston: Samuel T. Armstrong and Crocker & Brewster, 1822. 12o (146 x 86 mm). Engraved frontispiece and engraved view of Brainerd. (Some pale spotting and browning.) Contemporary red roan-backed boards (chipped at head of spine). FIRST EDITION. The author was a missionary to the Indians in Tennessee and he rescued a little girl whose parents had been scalped by Cherokees. This edition is not in Field. American Imprints 8446; Ayer 54; Howes C-776.
HUNTER, John D. (d. 1827). Memoirs of a Captivity Among the Indians of North America, from Childhood to the Age of Nineteen. London: Longman, Hurst Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green, 1824. 8o (212 x 129 mm). Frontispiece portrait (foxed). Contemporary calf (some wear at extremities). Third edition, which is notable for Hunter's defense against accusations that his tale was falsified. Ayer 144; Howes H-813 (first edition); Sabin 33921.
BALDWIN, Thomas (b.1750?). Narrative of the Massacre, by the Savages, of the Wife and Children of Thomas Baldwin, Who, since the melancholy period of the destruction of his unfortunate family, has dwelt entirely alone, in a hut of his own construction, secluded from human society, in the extreme western part of the State of Kentucky. New York: Martin & Wood, 1835. 8o (235 x 142 mm). Large folding woodcut plate hand-colored in lurid red and with printed key at bottom, title woodcut (discreet embossed stamp of AAS duplicate, minor soiling). Stabbed and sewn as issued in paper wrappers, uncut (part of upper cover torn away, back cover with tears and small losses). FIRST EDITION, usually regarded as a piece of sensationalist fiction, possibly by Charles D. Wood, the copyright holder. The large woodcut shows the sad fates of Baldwin's family. Ayer 18; Howes B-63 ("Perhaps based on some actual incident of border horror in early Kentucky...").
[BROWN, James Moore]. The Captives of Abb's Valley, a Legend of Frontier Life. By a Son of Mary Moore. Philadelphia: Presbyterian Board of Publication, 1854. 12o (148 x 99 mm). Original brown embossed cloth, leather title label on spine (minor wear at edges). Provenance: "Mr. Brooks" (gift inscription from "H" on rear pastedown). FIRST EDITION. The work describes the captivity of Mary Moore at Abb's Valley, Virgina, where in 1786 Capt. James Moore was murdered. His wife and daughter were captured by the Shawnees under Black Wolf. Ayer 35; Sabin 10767.
LEE, L.P. History of the Spirit Lake Massacre! and of Miss Abigail Gardiner's three Month's Captivity Among the Indians. New Britain, Conn.: L.P. Lee, 1857. 8o (230 x 150 mm). Illustrations in text. Original printed wrappers. Ayer 181; Howes L-210; Sabin 32214. (5)
CORNELIUS, Elias. The Little Osage Captive, an Authentic Narrative. Boston: Samuel T. Armstrong and Crocker & Brewster, 1822. 12
HUNTER, John D. (d. 1827). Memoirs of a Captivity Among the Indians of North America, from Childhood to the Age of Nineteen. London: Longman, Hurst Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green, 1824. 8
BALDWIN, Thomas (b.1750?). Narrative of the Massacre, by the Savages, of the Wife and Children of Thomas Baldwin, Who, since the melancholy period of the destruction of his unfortunate family, has dwelt entirely alone, in a hut of his own construction, secluded from human society, in the extreme western part of the State of Kentucky. New York: Martin & Wood, 1835. 8
[BROWN, James Moore]. The Captives of Abb's Valley, a Legend of Frontier Life. By a Son of Mary Moore. Philadelphia: Presbyterian Board of Publication, 1854. 12
LEE, L.P. History of the Spirit Lake Massacre! and of Miss Abigail Gardiner's three Month's Captivity Among the Indians. New Britain, Conn.: L.P. Lee, 1857. 8