A voyage To the Islands Madera, Barbados, Nieves, S. Christophers and Jamaica, with the Natural History of the Herbs and Trees, Four-footed Beasts, Fishes, Birds, Insects, Reptiles, &c. Of the last of those islands; To which is prefix'd An introduction, Wherein is an Account of the Inhabitants, Air, Waters, Diseases, Trade, &c of that Place, with some Relations concerning the Neighbouring Continent, and Islands of America. Illustrated with The Figures of the Things describ'd, which have not been heretofore engraved; In large Copper-Plates as big as the Life. By Hans Sloane, M.D. Fellow of the College of Physicians and Secretary of the Royal-Society
Two volumes. London: Printed (vol. I: by B. M[otte]) for the Author, 1707–1725.
Folio (13 3/8” x 9 ¾”, 339mm x 247mm).
Vol. I: π1 π2 Α2 Β1 Β2 C2 a1 a2 b1 c2 χ1 d2 e1 e2 f-g2 h1 i2 2χ1 k2 l1 l2 m-o2 p1 p2 q1 q2 r2 s1 s2 t-u2 x1 x2 y-z2 aa1 aa2 bb2cc1 cc2 dd-ee2 ff1 ff2 gg-ii2 kk1 kk2 ll-pp2 qq1 B-Xxx2 3χ1 [$1 signed; –c1, i1; c2 signed “c”, i2 signed “i”; p mis-signed “q”]. 218 leaves, pp. [16] (title, blank, dedication to Queen Anne, blank, 12pp. preface), i-cliv, 1-264, [2] (errata, blank). With 156 engraved plates: 1 folding engraved map (no. 1, bound as a frontispiece) and 155 engraved plates, of which 8 are folding and 147 are double-page. The whole mounted on guards.
Vol. II: π2 a-c2 d1 d2 e1, A-Aaaaaa2 Bbbbbb2(–Bbbbbb2) Cccccc-Kkkkkk2 [$1 signed]. 260 leaves, pp. [4] (title, blank, dedication, blank), i-xviii, 1-466 469-499, blank. [=xxii, 498] With 129 engraved plates (numbered I-XI and 157-274, i.e., continuous with those from vol. I), of which 21 are folding and 108 are double-page. The whole mounted on guards.
With 285 engraved plates: 1 folding map and 284 plates, of which 28 are folding and 156 double-page.
Bound in contemporary calf (re-backed, with the back-strip laid down). On the spine, six raised bands. Author and title gilt to roan in the second panel, number gilt to black roan in the third. Gilt roll to the edges of the boards. All edges of the text-block sprinkled red.
Re-backed, with the back-strip laid down. Edges of the boards renewed. Scuffed generally, with some surface loss at the spine. Internally quite clean; scattered leaves or plates (a couple dozen, perhaps) are tanned, moderately at most. Mild damp-staining to the lower edge of vol. II from Xxxx1 through pl. 213, not affecting the text. 1” tear to the central four-way fold of pl. 216. Pressed leaves at I.d1.2 and I.q2-r1; offsetting from leaves to p. 188 of vol. I. The uncompleted library label of “Jared P. Kirtland,/ Cleveland, Ohio.” to the front paste-down of each volume. With marginalia throughout.[1]
Sir Hans Sloane (1660–1753) was a medical doctor by training and practice, and as personal physician to the second Duke of Albemarle, who has been installed as governor, he traveled to Jamaica in 1687. Albemarle died the next year, so perhaps Sloane is better remembered as an inveterate collector. Indeed, through his benefactions of property, money and specimens were founded the British Museum (progenitor of the British Library), the National History Museum and the Chelsea Physic Garden. His role in Britain’s tradition of natural history is unrivalled.
Sloane’s account of his time Madeira (en route west) and the Caribbean islands — but principally Jamaica — established his reputation as an explorer and pioneer. The wealth of his observations about the climate, flora, fauna and people (including some interesting early Caribbean ethnomusicology) of these islands is matched by the staggering volume of engravings illustrating the work. The present work was the first to illustrate to Anglophone readers and cognoscenti the natural wealth of Jamaica and the Antilles more broadly. Sitwell calls it “a fundamental work for West Indian botany.”
The extensive marginalia (and occasional emendations) are quite curious. The ink and the graphite appear to be the same hand, which one would characterize as late-XVIIIc or early-XIXc. Although the majority are lectional aids the annotator does often provide the Spanish names for the plants and animals under discussion. In vol. II he shares a bit more of his own experience.[2] E.g., in a discussion of the plantain tree the claim that “if one gathers the fruit before it is ripe or good to eat, the Branch will turn on him and give him a Blow on the Nose” (II.142) is countered with “I have gathered many unripe ones, and never have received such a blow.” On the following page, against “There are several Varieties of this Fruit, occasion’d by the Soil, &c. or Age of the Tree…” the annotator corrects: “Nor the soil, nor the age of the tree produces the varieties of the Plantain, which are known to be 5% in the Philipines [sic] Islands. In Cuba there are know
Can the annotator be the eminent naturalist Jared Potter Kirtland (1793–1877) whose book-label is in the front of each volume? There does not appear to be any record of Kirtland’s travelling to the Caribbean himself, which rather goes against the first-hand comments. And yet the breadth of erudition and the command of the facts of natural history suggest a deeply learned commentator. Whether or not these are Kirtland’s marginalia, his ownership of the set is distinguished indeed. He was in the first matriculated class of the Yale School of Medicine. He eventually moved to the Connecticut Western Reserve (now Ohio), where he was, like Sloane, a physician and founder of what would become the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. A friend of J.J. Audubon, he is perhaps best known as the namesake of Kirtland’s warbler.
ESTC T00752; Hunt 417; Nissen, ZBI 1854; Sabin 82169; Sitwell, GFB pp. 139–140.
[1] Vol. I graphite marginalia: pp. clii-cliii, 45, 60, 61, 69, 103-105, 108, 119, 121, 126, 129-132, 138, 143, 146-147, 149-151, 153-156, 161, 163, 166-167, 171, 175-181, 183-184, 188, 191, 193, 196, 204, 211, 216-218, 222-223, 225-229, 231, 235, 237-238, 240-242, 244, 246, 248, 250, 253-256, 264; pll. 84, 121, 133.
Vol. I ink marginalia: pp. 66-67, 69, 104, 106, 111, 119, 122-124, 126, 128, 131-132, 143, 151, 156, 163, 165, 171, 184, 192-193, 204, 223, 225, 235, 236, 240, 248, 264.
Vol. II graphite marginalia: pp. 3-5, 7, 9, 48-54, 61, 64, 68, 81, 111-113, 116-117, 123-127, 129, 133-136, 138, 141-144, 146-147, 149, 151, 160-166, 167-174, 177-180, 182-184, 190, 193, 204, 206-207, 221, 225, 267, 271, 276-277, 279, 289, 294, 296-297, 329, 339, 340; pll. 224-226, 229-230.
Vol. II ink marginalia: pp. 8, 16-17, 35-36, 39, 41, 45, 48, 50, 52-54, 61, 68-70, 72, 89, 126-127, 130, 133-138,140, 151, 162-163, 165-168, 170, 173-174, 182.
[2] Particularly full marginalia are to be found, e.g., II.16-17, 141-144, 173 etc. The annotator even marks some plates, amusingly bluntly, e.g., “good” and “bad.”
Item #JLR0466
Price: $55,000