Bücher der Reihe Cambridge Library Collection - North American History

Captain Basil Hall (1788-1844) was a Scottish seaman and travel writer. These volumes, first published in 1829, contain his detailed and controversial account of his journey across America and Canada between 1827 and 1828, providing a fascinating description of contemporary social conditions and political tensions in North America.

In 1834-5 the English geologist George William Featherstonhaugh (1780-1866) travelled from the East Coast of the US to the Arkansas territory. Published in 1844, this two-volume travelogue vividly records the landscape, natural history and society of the southern slave states. Volume 1 covers Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky and Missouri.

First published in 1841, these letters from American statesman John Adams (1735-1826) to his wife reveal Adams' reactions to world events in the context of the creation of the United States as a nation. Volume 1 covers the early years of Adams' political career, from 1774 to 1777.

Published in 1852, this chronicle of pioneer life in Canada is notable for its unsentimental and frank account. In contrast to similar works of the time, it emphasises not only the triumphs but also the tribulations as the author's family begin new lives as immigrants and farmers.

Anna Jameson (1794-1860) was an inspirational figure to young nineteenth-century feminists. The publication of this three-volume book in 1838 secured her growing literary reputation. It records her impressions of the Great Lakes region, and includes literary reflections, particularly on the German Romantics. Volume 1 focuses on Ontario in winter.

James Silk Buckingham (1786-1855), traveller and writer, left for North America in 1837 and spent nearly four years there. He visited every state except Florida and Arkansas, recounting his experiences in this three-volume work, published in 1841. Volume 1 focuses on his time in New York, Washington and Baltimore.

Frederick Marryat (1792-1848) is remembered today as a novelist, but also wrote non-fiction. He spent 1837-8 travelling in North America, and published six volumes of observations in 1839. He was fascinated by the drive of Americans, but considered the country and people too heterogeneous to form a 'nation'.

Finnish-Swedish botanist Peter Kalm (1716-79) forged important scientific links between his country and England and North America through his extensive travels in and notes about the latter, which were translated into English via German and published in three volumes in 1770-1.

The lawyer John Adams (1735-1826) became a central figure in the American Revolution and is regarded as a father of the United States Constitution. Published in 1850-6, this collection includes diaries, correspondence and essays. Volume 7 focuses on Adams' 1777-82 mission to negotiate a treaty with Britain.

The Lewis and Clark expedition of 1804-1806 to the west coast of America was commissioned by President Jefferson to survey the newly acquired territory of Louisiana. Their mapping of the Missouri river and establishment of relations with native tribes were of vital importance to the westward settlement of America.

George Combe (1788-1858) was an influential British phrenologist. These volumes, first published in 1841, contain Combe's account of a phrenological lecture tour he undertook in the United States between 1838-1840, and provide valuable details concerning nineteenth-century American society. Volume 1 covers his stay in New England.

Harriet Martineau (1802-1876) was a British writer and scholar. In 1834 Martineau embarked on a two year tour of America. Written as a travel book, these volumes contain vivid descriptions of America with insights into the construction of American society. Volume 1 covers New York to Washington D.C.

Appointed Major General in 1775, George Washington was one of the most significant witnesses to the American Revolutionary War. Published in 1795, Volume 1 of these letters to Congress provides unique insights into the military strategies and political wrangling that characterized the first eighteen months of the conflict.

An early example of the travel writing genre, Lady Emmeline's journals recount her impressions of America and its people during her mid-nineteenth century travels. Volume I begins with her arrival in New York in 1849, and continues with her journeys to places including Boston, Philadelphia, Washington and many more.

The 'Travelling Bachelor' who is named as author on the original title page of this two-volume work is in fact James Fenimore Cooper (1789-1851). In the Notions of the Americans, Cooper's purpose was to reveal this brand-new nation to his own countrymen as well as to Europeans.

Published in 1833, Men and Manners in America serves as a discerning and thorough study of the beginnings of American democracy, and as a delightfully unintended example of the 'prejudices natural to an [nineteenth- century] Englishman'. Volume 1 describes Hamilton's experiences of New York, Boston, New England, and Philadelphia.

Charles Dickens (1812-1870) was a journalist before he became a novelist. His travel writings have all the energy and urgency of journalism, and these two controversial volumes, drawn from his experiences on a six-month tour of the United States between January and June 1842, are no exception.

Frances Trollope presents an engaging account of her visit to the United States during 1827-1831 in this two-volume travelogue. Published in 1832, it records her often outspoken views on many aspects of nineteenth-century American society. The immediacy of her impressions will arouse the curiosity of readers today.

Each of the 119 landscape engravings in this two-volume book is accompanied by a short essay. The authors' intention is to bring to the reader at home the sensations of travel which 'those whose lot is domestic and retired' would never be in a position to experience for themselves.

The writer Helen Hunt Jackson (1830-85) campaigned strongly for Native American rights. Her popular novel Ramona (1884) emerged out of her passionate seeking of justice for these persecuted peoples. This 1881 publication introduces seven major tribes, their land claims, and the history of broken treaties and massacres they had suffered.

Several years after his return from the Caribbean island of Nevis, the English clergyman William Smith wrote a series of letters to Charles Mason, the Woodwardian Professor of Fossils at Cambridge. Published in 1745, they discuss the island's flora and fauna as well as Smith's various other interests, including cryptography.

This work by Randolph B. Marcy (1812-87) is reissued here in the 1863 edition, edited with notes by the British explorer Richard Burton. Based on Marcy's own experiences, it covers the practical steps necessary to enable the emigrant to the American west to be self-reliant and to survive.

This early study of Native American culture was first published in 1775. James Adair (fl.1735-75), a trader who worked for many years among the Catawba, Cherokee, Muscogee, Chickasaw and Choctaw, presents extensive ethnographic information on these peoples, along with accounts of his activity in trading, politics and warfare.

Howard Stansbury (1806-63) was a major in the United States Army Corps of Topographical Engineers. This book, published in 1852, is his illustrated account of a two-year scientific and surveying expedition he led to Salt Lake City. He also describes his favourable impressions of the Mormons he encountered there.

Here reissued in its 1819 second edition, this 1818 book by the political reformer William Cobbett (1763-1835) describes a year he spent farming on Long Island after fleeing England. Analysing the climate, soil, crops and economics, Cobbett disputes claims that the mid-West is an ideal destination for British emigrants.

Published before the outcome of the conflict was known, this account of the American Revolution by the Abbe Raynal (1713-69) was first published in English in 1781. It is taken from the last volume of his influential Philosophy and Political History of the East and West Indies.

George Washington (1732-1799) was the first president of the United States, having led the Continental army to victory against the British during the American War of Independence. This 1807 biography (here reissued in the 1858 Boston edition) documents his military career and campaigns, and his terms as president.

First published in 1821, just six years after he had witnessed the British campaigns in Washington and New Orleans, Gleig's chronicle provides a glimpse of the impressions, sentiments and attitudes fostered by those who fought some of the most influential battles in British and American history.