A DESCRIPTION OF NEW ENGLAND: OR THE OBSERUATIONS, AND DISCOUERIES, OF CAPTAIN IOHN SMITH. [SIC] JOHN SMITH.Humfrey Lownes for Robert Clerke, 1616. 1st ed. 4to. 9 p. leaves, [16], 61, [2] p. Map wanting. Silk cloth with Japanese stab binding. Captain John Smith's description of New England was an important work in the conception of New England in the minds of the Puritans and other early settlers to the region. This work established New England and English place names for the region. Smith's book was printed four years before the Mayflower voyage and the beginning of the Puritan migration to America. Smith's exuberant promotion of the bounty of New England inspired families to leave old England for a new one and helped found New England from what had been terra incognita.
Sabin 82819; STC 22788; Church 369; Vail 40; Schwartz and Ehrenberg pp. 96--99, pl. 53; Streeter sale 2: 610. 1837 reprint
