JEWITT, John R.
Title continues: "Only Survivor of the Ship Boston, During a Captivity of Nearly Three Years Among the Savages of Nootka Sound: With an Account of the Manners, Mode of Living, and Religious Opinions of the Natives. Embellished with Ten Engravings." John Rodgers Jewitt (1783-1821) wrote this popular story of adventure on the west coast. He was armourer on the Boston, a ship that had two officers and a crew of 24, and whose chief officer insulted the nearby natives at Nootka Sound. The entire crew, save Jewitt and one another, was massacred. (The title calls Jewitt "Only Survivor" but this seems to be untrue.) Jewitt, rescued in 1805, went on to write this book filled with the life and habits of his captors, a vocabulary of their language, and a list of the massacred men. This edition is often assigned a date of 1820, but Hill assigns a speculative date of 1815, the same year as the first edition printed in Middletown, Connecticut. Despite the place of publication being New York, this edition was also printed in Middletown. Hill 888; Howes A189; Pilling 1988; Sabin 36123.
