Simpson's Letters To London 1841-42

Hardcover with dust jacket, [58] 212 [17] pages, 6.25x9.50 in, [16x21 cm]. The Hudson's Bay Record Society Volume XXIX. "This is No. 1914 of a limited Edition which is issued only to subscribers to The Hudson's Bay Record Society"

Dust jacket stained. Four pages and the front flap of the dust jacket neatly marked with a rubberstamp bearing the name of a previous owner. It appears as if the mylar wrapped dust jacket had been taped to the pastedowns, the tape has been cut (neatly). Tape remnants attached to the pastedowns and the mylar.

The Editor, Glyndwr Williams states in the Preface "The decision to publish Sir George Simpson's letters to Governor and Committee in London during his journey around the world in 1841 and 1842 need little explanation. These reports revel Simpson, in effect the Company's overseas Governor since 1826, at the height of his considerable powers, observing rearranging and inexorably supervising the trading operations of the Company from the King's Post in the east to the Pacific coast and the Sandwich Island far to the west. As Professor Galbraith points out in his Introduction, more than twenty years experience in the Fur Trade enabled Simpson to view continental affairs of the Hudson's Bay Company with unrivalled knowledge, and his letters provide a unique and authoritative commentary on the Company's North American and Pacific operations at the time when its trading area was reaching its farthest extent. In addition, the correspondence printed here shows Simpson in his other role, as an international statesman, negotiating with the Russian American Company over Alaskan trade, concerned about the political future of Hawaii, and passing judgement on the potentialities of California. ..."