(EARLY AMERICAN IMPRINT) Hubbard William A Narrative of the

Sale 2253 - Lot 141

Price Realized: $ 24,000

?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price

Estimate: $ 25,000 - $ 35,000

"SUPERLATIVELY RARE, ALMOST UNOBTAINABLE" (EARLY AMERICAN IMPRINT.) Hubbard, William. A Narrative of the Troubles with the Indians in New-England. [12], 132, [8], 7-12, 88 pages. 4to, tasteful modern full calf gilt by Bernard Middleton; lacking map as usual, lacking initial dedication leaf (supplied in facsimile), the first gathering of 6 leaves supplied from another copy with early repairs, lacking internal blank leaf n4, a few headlines and catchwords grazed, a few scattered early annotations, faint dampstaining; provenance notes on front endpapers. Boston: John Foster, 1677

Set Alert for Similar Items

Additional Details

first edition of the best contemporary history of King Philip's War. The Rev. William Hubbard was a member of Harvard's first graduating class in 1642, and became pastor of the church at Ipswich, MA. A contemporary called him "a man of singular modesty, of strict morals, and has done as much for the conversion of the Indians, as most men in New England." Hubbard was close with several Ipswich officers in the war such as Major Samuel Appleton, which greatly informed his narrative (see Waters, Ipswich in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, page 161).
In addition to its historical significance, this book is also an important early Boston imprint, the first Boston press having just begun in the previous year. The Church Catalogue would describe this copy as being the second issue of Part I (with the four added cancel leaves numbered 83 to 86 in gathering M), and first issue of Part II (with the blank space on page 81 and only ten lines of errata at the end). Adams later concluded that so many states exist, it is impossible to assign priority to any. See Adams, "Hubbard's Narrative," in Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America, Vol. 33 (1939), pages 25-39; Church 650; Evans 231; Howes H756 ("dd"--"superlatively rare, almost unobtainable"); Field 731; Sabin 33445; Streeter sale II:640; Vail 184. Only one other copy has sold at auction (also lacking the map) since the 1967 Streeter sale.
Provenance: early owner William Paine (signature on page 1); Henry C. Murphy (1810-1882), mayor of Brooklyn (his unsigned note on front pastedown, and sold at his sale, Leavitt & Co., 1884, lot 1276); Michael Zinman (small bookplate on front pastedown, and unsigned pencil note on front free endpaper); purchased from the William Reese Company.