An Historical, Geographical, Commercial, and Philosophical View of the United States of America, and of the European Settlements in America and the West-Indies - 1795

4 volumes; vi+[2]+591 pages with 1 plate; [4]+493 pages; [4]+525 pages with 2 plates one in color and 2 plans; [4]+416+[19] pages with 14 plates. Octavo (8 1/2" x 5 1/4") bound in fill leather with decorative edges in gilt with lettering to spine in red and black labels. (Howes: W581; Sabin 104831) First edition.Rev. William Winterbotham was a British Baptist minister and a political prisoner. He wrote some books introducing general information about China and the United States. Winterbotham was prosecuted for sedition for two sermons he preached in 1792. He was found guilty and sentenced to two years' imprisonment and a fine of £100 for each sermon. He wrote the present work while serving time in Newgate Prison. It treats the discovery and early settlement of America, the American Revolution, each of the states of the Northeast and South, the Northwest Territory, Canada, and settlements in South America and the West Indies. Most of the handsome plates illustrate birds, quadrupeds, and reptiles found in the West Indies. The color plate represents the tobacco plant (third volume, opposite page 427) and is the first color plate regularly published in the American edition, here present in a very good impression.Condition:Corners bumped, spines rubbed, hinges split (but all covers still firmly attached); previous owner's name to end paper, title page of the first volume torn at the bottom inner margin with loss, occasional foxing; lacking the 8 maps, 2 of the 3 plans, and 18 of the 22 plates. Over all about very good copy.