Jun 12 at 12:00 PM - Sale 2708 -

Sale 2708 - Lot 1

Estimate: $ 2,500 - $ 3,500
(AMERICAN INDIANS.) A Narrative of the Captivity of Mrs. Johnson, Containing an Account of . . . Four Years with the Indians and French. 144 pages. 12mo, contemporary boards with contemporary calf wrappers stitched over, moderate wear; coming disbound, long closed tears to gathering F, leaves F3-4 defective with loss of several words, otherwise just foxing and moderate wear; early owner's signature on rear free endpaper. Walpole, NH: David Carlisle, Jr., 1796
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Additional Details

First edition of a popular captivity narrative. It recounts the story of Susannah Willard Johnson (1730-1810), her husband, and three children, who were captured by Abenakis during a 1754 raid on Charlestown, NH. They were held for ransom in Quebec and then sold into servitude and imprisonment to the French Canadians. They did not regain their freedom until 1757; her husband died the following year.

Susannah remarried in 1762; as Susannah Hastings, she dictated this narrative, supplemented with notes she and her husband had taken in captivity. Ayer, Indian Captivities 117; Howes J153 ("b"); Evans 30641; Sabin 36324. One other traced at auction since 2004.

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