Rare unsigned book: Memoir upon the Late War in North America between the French and English, 1755-1760, Vols. I and II, by Pierre Pouchot, translated and edited by Franklin B. Hough. Limited edition, this being one of seven quarto copies on Whatman's drawing paper. Roxbury, MA: W. Elliott Woodward, 1866. Bound in plain paper wrappers and housed in a handsome custom-made quarter-morocco slipcase, 9.75 x 12, 551 pages. The work is highlighted by several fine and interesting plates, maps, and illustrations. Book condition: VG-/None, with tattered spines, Fort Levi frontispiece of Vol. I nearly detached, and bindings rather loose. Affixed inside both slipcovers is the bookplate of Joel Davis Madden, Jr.
Pierre Pouchot was a French military engineer and officer who served in Canada during the French and Indian War, helping to lay out the siege works and defenses at Fort Oswego, Fort Ticonderoga, Fort Frontenac, and Fort Niagara. In his preface, editor/translator Franklin B. Hough outlines the purpose of his work: 'In preparing an English translation from an authentic narrative by an intelligent observer, of the events of the war of 1755-60, we hope to contribute a valuable addition to the literature of an interesting period of American history. Our impressions of these events, have been chiefly derived from English authors, who often evinced a partizan spirit in their narratives unworthy of the historian, and who even when they sought to leave a faithful record, could at most, present but a partial statement of what they saw on their side. The incidents of a battle or of a siege, as witnessed from an English camp, might appear quite different, if seen through the loop holes of a fort, or from behind the intrenchments of the French, and a full and truthful knowledge of the whole subject can only be attained by the study of the historians of both parties. The memoirs here presented, bear conclusive evidence of having been written in a spirit of candor and truth, and being chiefly founded upon personal observation, or the statements of eye witnesses, they possess the merit of being original authority.'
Joel Davis Madden, Jr., left Princeton University in 1905 and moved west to make his fortune in the railroad industry. He went on to become an executive with the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, and died suddenly in 1928 at the age of 41. His book collection, offered by his granddaughter, has not been publicly offered or privately sold in a century.
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