The Diary of Simeon Perkins 1804-1812

liii+520+[xxiv members list] pages with tables, appendices and index. Royal octavo (9 1/2" x 6 3/4") bound in original publisher's red cloth with gilt lettering and insignia to spine. Publications of the Champlain Society L. First edition limited to 1400 copies of which this is number 1106.

Colonel Simeon Perkins was a Nova Scotia militia leader, merchant, diarist and politician. Perkins led the defence of Liverpool from attacks during the American Revolution, French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. In the 1770s, Liverpool was the second-largest settlement in Nova Scotia, next to Halifax. He also funded privateer ships in defence of the colony. He wrote a diary for 46 years (1766 1812), which is an essential historic document of this time period in Nova Scotian history. His diary, which he began in 1766, remains a vital source for historians studying the society and economy of colonial Canada and notably the battle for identity and loyalty during the American Revolution. Perkins was at first neutral, but became increasingly loyal to the British cause. After relentless American privateer attacks on shipping and an attempted American looting of Liverpool itself, Perkins helped lead the defences of the town and outfitted several privateer ships against the Americans. One of his diary entries, for October 12, 1796 allegedly contains the first report of a UFO sighting in modern North America. Perkins reports the tale circulating at the time of a young lady and two men living at New Minas, Nova Scotia on upper reaches of the Bay of Fundy, who, during a recent sunrise, saw as many as fifteen ships in the air . and a man forward with his hand stretched out. Perkins continues, "the story did not obtain universal credit but some people believed it." The original copies of Perkins diaries were donated to the Town of Liverpool in 1899 and are now held by the Queens County Museum in Liverpool. The diary was published in five volumes by the Champlain Society between 1948 and 1967.

Condition: Unread with pages still needing to be separated. Corners and spine ends lightly rubbed, some light spotting and soiling to covers else better than very good.