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John Long : Voyages and Travels of an Indian Interpreter and Trader, Describing The Manners and Customs of the North American Indians; with an Account of the Posts Situated on the River Saint Laurence, Lake Ontario, &c. To which is added, a Vocabulary of The Chippeway Language. Names of Furs and Skins, in English and French. A List of Words in the Iroquois, Mohegan, Shawanee, and Esquimeaux Tongues, and a Table, Shewing The Analogy between the Algonkin and Chippeway Languages. By J. Long

J. Long, Robson, Debrett, et al., London, c. 1791.

19th-century full chestnut calf with blind-tooled shell border within gilt lines, light brown spine in six compartments of raised gilt-tooled bands and blind-tooled floral motifs, gilt red morocco title label on two, gilt text on four and six, board edges and inner dentelles blind-tooled, all edges tinted red. , A fine, large paper copy of this important survey of the Canadian frontier circa the American Revolution, in full decorative calf, text and plates are clean and crisp and printed on thick bluish-green laid paper., 4to. (285mm x 215mm), P. (4), title, blank, dedication (2), list of subscribers iii-vi, preface vii-x, errata, blank, 1-295, blank, (4)., Complete with folding map, “Sketch of the Western Countries of Canada, 1791.”

John Long worked for the Hudson’s Bay Company from 1768 to 1787 as a fur trader and trapper in Canada’s then northwest. He traveled widely, was knowledgeable about the country, and was frequently in the company of Native Americans. The author “bestowed some pains” (Preface) for the preparation of the Chipewyan language table which Sabin describes as “linguistically valuable”. His account is “characterized by candor and intelligence,” but is “tinged a little with the disappointments” suffered by many other of his contemporaries at the Hudson’s Bay Company (Field). Most particularly, Sabin emphasizes the “candid” nature of the account, demonstrated in Long’s descriptions “of the injustice perpetrated on the Indians by the British”. It is, however, his relationship with the First Nations peoples amongst whom he worked that shines through: “his knowledge of the character, customs, and domestic life of the Indians was … the most thorough and intimate” (Field), and thus the book is “a most faithful picture of the life and manners of the Indian and Canadian traders” (Volney)., Sabin 41878; Field 946; Howes L-443; Ayer, Indian Linguistics Algonkin 28, Chippewa 128 and 150; Field 946; Graff 2527; Howes L443; Lande 1289;

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