CAMPBELL, Thomas.
Gertrude of Wyoming; a Pennsylvanian Tale. And other Poems.
London, T. Bensley, for the Author ... 1809.
4to, pp. [2], 134; without the explanatory slip found in some copies; a fine copy in contemporary mottled calf, covers with a gilt roll border, spine gilt in compartments, green morocco label; from the library of Mary Sandys, Marchioness of Downshire, with her gilt monogram on the spine.
First edition of Campbell’s most re-printed poem, based on a massacre of American patriots by British forces and their Iroquois (Haudenosaunee) allies in 1778. Its portrayal of ‘pastoral innocence evoked only to be destroyed by the savagery of war (embodied in this case by Mohawk allies of the British) was in tune with an increasing taste for pathos … The poem retained its popularity for many years, particularly in the United States’ (ODNB).
Sabin 10268; Tinker 607.
