Fletcher, C. [Cyrus] Much in Little; Comprising a History of the Charters, Governments and Relations of the Colonies; The Origin and History of Political Parties, and the Institution of American Slavery. Also, a Miscellaneous Department, Containing Historical Items, Interesting and Useful, Together with Manias, Superstitions, Speculations, and Curiosities of Literature. **Isaac Dyer's Copy** Published by Printed by Hollis & Gunn., Boston, 1857. First Edition
Hard cover, 18mo (measuring 4 1/4 x 6 1/4 inches), in publisher's original brown fine ribbed cloth, with blind-stamped borders and foliate design to both boards; title in gilt to spine. 204pp. Condition: Good Minus. Evidence of once being in (or at least near) a fire affects the top edge of the text block, as seen in photos, causing some discoloration. Slightly cocked. Small losses to cloth on top board. Minor foxing to endpapers only. A quarter-sized hole to ffep. also bearing owner's stamp, Issac Dyer, Skowhegan, Maine. The volume is a brief and yet comprehensive survey spanning the history of America. It begins with the fifteenth-century exploration and political settlements of the Spanish and Portuguese, and the later French and English colonies, the American colonial era, through to the political ramifications of the contemporary slavery issues as they affected the conduct of the burgeoning Civil War.**The author, Cyrus D. Fletcher (b.1821) was the son of Adolphus Fletcher (1796-1866), the New Hampshire-born publisher of the Jamestown (NY) Journal newspaper, and committed abolitionist, who instituted a set of three anti-slavery petitions in Jamestown in 1844. (Douglas H. Shepard, "Adolphus Fletcher" from Underground Railroad and Anti-Slavery Activists database) Cyrus Fletcher's own anti-slavery biases are an integral part of this work. The book's one-time owner, Isaac Dyer of Skowhegan, Maine, became the Colonel of Maine's 15th Infantry in the Civil War, from Dec. 1861 to Sept. 1865, with campaigns in Louisiana, Texas and Virginia. A large and important collection of his Civil War items went to market several years ago.**The Boston printers, Hollis and Gunn, are listed in the Boston Directory of 1873, under the names A.F. Hollis and Daniel Gunn, at 71 Devonshire and 11 Haverhill Streets; by 1877, Mr. Gunn appears to have taken on a different partner, as the professional listing is for Gunn and Bliss, Printers, at 31 Hawley Street. (Boston Directory, 1873, p. 388; 1877 Directory p. 897.). Sabin 24717. OCLC 13378321. (Publisher's name is misspelled in that database.)

Ref: AMER 8722

$240.00