Filson, John. The Discovery, Settlement and Present State of Kentucke. Wilmington: Printed by James Adams, 1784

FILSON, JOHN

THE DISCOVERY, SETTLEMENT AND PRESENT STATE OF KENTUCKE: AND AN ESSAY TOWARDS THE TOPOGRAPHY AND NATURAL HISTORY OF THAT IMPORTANT COUNTRY: TO WHICH IS ADDED ... THE ADVENTURES OF COL. DANIEL BOON, ONE OF THE FIRST SETTLERS, COMPREHENDING EVERY IMPORTANT OCCURRENCE IN THE POLITICAL HISTORY OF THAT PROVINCE. WILMINGTON: PRINTED BY JAMES ADAMS, 1784

8vo, in half-sheets (8 3/8 x 5 1/8 in.; 212 x 132 mm). With final blank leaf P4; lacking map (as usual), some toning, some scattered foxing and staining, contemporary marginal annotation in sepia ink, two long closed tears repaired (H3-4), minor closed marginal tear (M2). Later full brown calf, covers with double gilt rules, gilt-lettered morocco label on spine. 

First edition of the first book on Kentucky and the first published biography of Daniel Boone.

John Filson, born in Chester County, Pennsylvania, was a historian of Kentucky, and one of the founders of Cincinnati. After acquiring roughly 13,000 acres, Filson moved to Lexington, where he was initially employed as a school teacher, and also surveyed land claims. Travelling the region as a surveyor, he would interview its inhabitants, and within two year of his arrival, he had completed The Discovery, Settlement and Present State of Kentucke. 

The map, printed separately, is almost never found with the book. The last copy with the map sold at auction was in 1921, the copy owned by Robert Hoe. Included here are descriptions of the discoveries of mammoth bones and of ancient burial sites; a speculative account of the origins of native Americans, citing the Danish explorations of the tenth century and that of Madoc, Prince of Wales, in 1170; and, extensive descriptions of Indian customs and manners, particularly of the Shawnees.

"The Adventures of Col. Daniel Boon" appears in the Appendix⁠—which happens to be longer than the primary text⁠—and were dictated by the frontiersman himself. While Filson clearly raised the level of Boone's diction, the section still proves an exciting firsthand view of the exploration and settlement of the old frontier, and was particularly popular at the time of its publication, with Byron even mentioning it in his Don Juan.

LITERATURE:

Vail 694; Field, Indian Bibliography 536; Jillson, Boone 51; Jillson, Kentucky 2; Church 1202; Streeter 3:1621; Evans 18467; Sabin 24336; Howes F129