[Baynton, Benjamin] | Evidently the only copy to appear at auction since 1935

[Baynton, Benjamin]

Authentic Memoirs of William Augustus Bowles, Esquire, Ambassador from the United Nations of Creeks and Cherokees, to the Court of London. London: Printed for R. Faulder, 1791

12mo (169 x 102). Half-title, with blank A4; half-title lightly soiled. Modern half calf over contemporary marbled boards; boards lightly rubbed, corners restored. Brown cloth folding-case, black morocco label.

First edition. William Augustus Bowles, a Maryland loyalist, fought with the British forces around Pensacola during the Revolutionary War, but took refuge with the Creeks after being cashiered from the army in 1783. Bowles subsequently married the daughter of a Creek chief and spent the remainder of his life trying to establish a sovereign Creek state. "Among the singular characters of the present day, no man for his years has experienced more numerous viissitudes than the person whose life is now to be delineated" (p. 1 of the present work).

Very rare. The present Siebert-Kislak copy is the only one recorded in the auction records since 1935, and Field ranked it "among the rarest works relating to American aborigines." 

REFERENCE:

Field 59; Howes B266; Gilcrease pp. 155–56; Servies 670; Sabin 7082

PROVENANCE:

Frank T. Siebert (Sotheby’s New York, 28 October 1999, lot 595)