History of the Indians of Connecticut from the Earliest Known Period to 1850

8vo modern cloth, xxvi, 509 pp. illustrated with plates and folding frontispiece map. Some minor edge wear to binding, some foxing and folding map chipped a little at edges and not folded evenly. Nice tight copy. De Forest (1826-1906) wrote this book under the patronage of the Connecticut Historical Society. He was an author who wrote a couple of novels as well as historical works, and also provided war coverage for Harper’s Weekly. This work is a very comprehensive coverage of the subject that includes everything from a physical description of the Indians and their environment to some of the reasons for their decline. He seems impressed with the appearance of Indian men who he describes as being tall, trim, fit and tawny in color. He is less flattering to Indian women who he felt were “short and clumsy” and unfeminine. Devotes two chapters to the problems with the Pequots, and in his discussion of the decline of the Indians blames some of it on the use of liquor.