George Heriot

A first edition of George Heriot's Travels Through the Canadas.

• George Heriot (Scottish)
• Travels through the Canadas, containing a description of the picturesque scenery on some of the rivers and lakes; with an account of the productions, commerce, and inhabitants of those provinces. To which is subjoined a comparative view of the manners and customs of several of the Indian nations of North and South America.
• London: Richard Phillips, 1807.
• Quarto.
• xii, 602, [2]pp.
• Frontispiece hand-colored aquatint folding view, 26 hand-colored aqautint plates of which 5 folding, hand-colored folding map.
• Contemporary full diced calf re-backed with original spine laid down, boards ruled in gilt, gilt spine with gilt morocco lettering piece, all edges marbled, turn-ins gilt rolled.

First edition of this important aquatint book on Canada and the Great Lakes, often issued with the plates uncolored. The plates depict the landmarks of Canada including Quebec, Montreal, the St. Lawrence, and the Niagara falls. The latter half of the work is dedicated to the northern Native American tribes, particularly their connection to the fur trade. Several plates display their costumes, and includes a vocabulary of the Algonquin languages.

George Heriot (1759-1839) was postmaster-general of British North America from 1799 to 1816 and was a distinguished watercolorist in his day.