Book/Printed Material The present state of the West-Indies

Title

• The present state of the West-Indies : containing an accurate description of what parts are possessed by the several powers in Europe : together with an authentick account of the first discoverers of those islands, and the parts adjacent, their situation, extent, boundaries, soil, product, trade, commerce, inhabitants, strength, government, and religion : also their principal bays and harbours, the materials for which were collected on the spot during the last war by some of the officers of his Majesty's forces, and diligently compared will all authentick narrators : illustrated with a complete map of the West-Indies, done from the latest observations.

Summary

• This book, published in London in 1778, is a succinct compilation of information about the West Indies, containing, as indicated by the lengthy subtitle, "an authentick account of the first discoverers of those islands, and the parts adjacent, their situation, extent, boundaries, soil, product, trade, commerce, inhabitants, strength, government, and religion: also their principal bays and harbours, the materials for which were collected on the spot during the last war by some of the officers of his Majesty's forces, and diligently compared with all authentick narrators." Even though the American Revolution was raging at the time the book was published, the "last war" referred to in the subtitle is the Seven Years War (1756-63; known in America as the French and Indian War), which resulted in major territorial changes in the Americas. As the book explains, as a consequence of the war and the ensuing Treaty of Paris (1763), the French "have no longer any settlement on the Continent of the West-Indies, and their possessions are reduced to the West part of the Island of St. Domingo [present-day Haiti], the Island of Guadeloupe with the adjacent isles, the Island of Martinico [Martinique], and the Island of St. Lucia." Spain also ceded to Britain territories that became the colonies of East Florida and West Florida, comprising the present-day U.S. state of Florida and parts of Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. The book describes the mainland and island possessions of Britain, France, and Spain, with a few pages devoted to the colonies of the Dutch and the Danes. World Digital Library.

Names

• Kitchin, Thomas, 1718-1784.
• Jay I. Kislak Collection (Library of Congress)
• Pre-1801 Imprint Collection (Library of Congress)

Created / Published

• London : Printed for R. Baldwin ..., 1778.

Headings

• -  Latin America--Description and travel--Early works to 1800
• -  West Indies--Description and travel--Early works to 1800

Notes

• -  LC copy has hand colored map.
• -  Map has title: A new and correct map of the American Islands, now called the West Indies, with the whole coast of the neighbouring continent. By Thos. Kitchin, geogr. 39 x 45 cm.
• -  Signatures: [A]² B-2B².
• -  ESTC (RLIN) T44237
• -  Sabin 65333
• -  Kislak accession no.: 1990.043.00.0001.
• -  OSL states that LC Copies 1 and 2 are in the general collection. They may have been transferred to the Pre-1801 Collection. Unable to make this determination at this time because both are NOS in the general, Rare and Pre-1801 stacks: vj16 2006-08-14.

Medium

• [4], 95, [1] p., [1] folded leaf of plates : map ; 27 cm. (4to)

Call Number/Physical Location

• F1610 .P92
• F1610 .P92 Copy 3 Provenance: Gift of Jay I. Kislak Foundation.

Digital Id

• http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.rbc/rbfr.0060

Library of Congress Control Number

• 02008613

Online Format

• pdf
• image

LCCN Permalink

• https://lccn.loc.gov/02008613

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• MARCXML Record
• MODS Record
• Dublin Core Record

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