Beschreibung:

The English-American his Travail by Sea and Land: Or, A New Survey of the West-India's, containing a Journall of Three thousand and Three hundred Miles within the main Land of America. London: R. Cotes, sold by Humphrey Blunden and Thomas Williams 1648. A6(-A1), B-T6 U8. [10], 220, [12] pp. Folio (273 x 163 mm). 19th century half red morocco, top edge gilt. Pale dampstain with tidemark through text, marginal repair to A5, marginal chip to final leaf. FIRST EDITION, RECOUNTING THE FIRST TRAVELS IN CENTRAL AMERICA BY AN ENGLISHMAN. "[Gage's] account of the wealth and defenseless condition of the Spanish possessions in South America excited the cupidity of the English, and it is said that Gage himself laid before Cromwell the first regular plan for mastering the Spanish territories in the New World" (DNB). The popularity of Gage's work can in part be accounted for by his sensational chapter titles, viz., "A notorious Witch in the Town of Pinola affrighted the Author" and "The Author forced to drinke his owne urine, and lost, and like to perish in an unknowne Island, and afterwards upon a Rock." Includes an 8-page grammar of "Poconchi," a language of Guatemala. European Americana 648/68; Hill 665; JCB III:369; Palau 96480; Sabin 26298; Wing G-109. Provenance: Edward Everett Ayer, with his 1911 presentation bookplate to the Newberry Library; withdrawn from the Newberry as a duplicate. Acquisition: Sotheby's New York, Nov 1, 1993, lot 67, via William Reese Company, $2,875.