A State of the Expedition from Canada, as laid before the House of Commons, by Lieutenant-General Burgoyne, and verified by evidence; with a collection of authentic documents, and an addition of many circumstances which were prevented from appearing before the House by the prorogation of Parliament. Written and collected by himself, and dedicated to the officers of the army he commanded
THOMAS POWNALL’S COPY IN PUBLISHER’S BOARDS
London: Printed for J. Almon, 1780. The Second Edition.
Octavo (9” x 5 11/16”, 228mm x 147mm): binder’s blank, A6 B-N8, 2A-G8 (G8 blank), binder’s blank [$4 signed; –C4, H4]. 158 leaves, pp. i-iii (title, blank, dedication) iv-vi, [2] (blank, introduction) viii-ix, [2] (advertisement, blank), 1 2-191, blank, i-cix, 3 blanks. [=xii, 192, cxii] With 6 engraved folding maps (by William Faden after Medcalfe) hand-colored in outline, and a folding letterpress table.
Bound in the publisher’s blue-grey boards, backed with paper. On the spine, author and title ink manuscript. Fore- and bottom edges untrimmed.
Entirely unsophisticated. Front hinge starting at the tail to a depth of 35mm. Some wear to the edges of the boards. A few faint passages of tanning. Scattered little tears or creases to the maps. Armorial bookplate of Thomas Pownall to the front paste-down.
John Burgoyne (1722–1792) was put in command of the British forces in Canada in 1777 after outlining what he considered the errors and insufficient boldness of his own commanding officer, Guy Carleton. His plan was to move south from Quebec and to retake the entire Hudson River valley down to the City of New York, with the aim of stranding New England from southern reinforcement. He got only as far as Saratoga, having failed to coordinate his rendezvous with the forces of Clinton and Howe. On 17 October he surrendered the whole of his army, some 5,800 men, to Horatio Gates. It was the Americans’ greatest victory to date, and was crucial in convincing the French to join the fight. Modern historians consider the episode the critical point in the American Revolution’s success.
“Gentleman Johnny” returned to Britain with Washington’s permission in order to defend his conduct, and the present volume is the account of that defense to the House of Commons, and more broadly to rehabilitate his career and to restore his name. That was his sole victory; he would go on to be a Privy Councilor, Commander-in-Chief of Ireland and Colonel of the King’s Own Regiment — to say nothing of considerable success in the theatre, both on his own and in partnership with Richard Brinsley Sheridan.
Thomas Pownall (1722–1805) was governor of South Carolina, lieutenant-governor of New Jersey and finally governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1757–1760. In addition to being one of the foremost British colonial administrators, he was himself an author and mapmaker of some distinction; The Administration of the Colonies (1764) with its much lauded cartographic effort by Lewis Evans, was updated by Pownall through 1777. As governor of Massachusetts, he was active in the French and Indian/Seven Years War, and came to understand the dynamics of the thirteen colonies perhaps better than any other Englishman. He came out as an advocate for American independence (though not a staunch one), and sat in Parliament from 1767–1780. Indeed, as the tide was turning for Burgoyne in Saratoga, Pownall gave a speech in the House, predicting the beginning of the end:
I now tell this House and government that the Americans never will return again to their subjection to the government of this country. . . Until you shall be convinced that you are no longer sovereigns over America, but that the United States are an independent sovereign people—until you are prepared to treat with them as such—it is of no consequence at all, what schemes or plans of conciliation this side the House or that may adopt... (2 December 1777)
The present item holds a vaunted place in the achievement of American Independence. It is the testament of the agent of British failure in America, belonging to the prophet of British failure.
Howes B 968; Lande 69; Sabin 9255.
Item #6JLR0145
Price: $16,000