The History of New Hampshire from its Discovery, in 1614, to the Passage of the Toleration Act, in 1819.

Concord, New Hampshire: I.S. Boyd, 1842 Hard cover, 8vo (measuring 5 3/4 x 9 inches), in full calf, the spine banded in gilt, with title on applied black leather label, all edges of the text block marbled, 456 pp., First Edition. With tissue-guarded frontispiece portrait, errata slip bound in at rear. Condition: Very Good. Both exterior hinges are cracked but holding firmly. The inner joints of the binding are firm. There is some loss to leather at the rubbed corners and edges , with small chips to title label. Several names are inscribed to ffep. in old ink (all of the same family.) The pages are generally bright, clean and unfoxed, with only the odd spot of soiling. Author George Barstow, (1812-1883) was a Dartmouth graduate from Haverhill, New Hampshire, who worked as a journalist in Boston while training as a lawyer. This was the period during which he wrote this History. After a later stint in New York, he relocated to SanFrancisco in 1858 and began careers in teaching and ,eventually, politics. Barstow is perhaps most famous, however, for asking help from fellow Dartmouth grad John Wentworth (1815-1888) to enquire of the Mormon leader Joseph Smith details of The Latter Day Saints history, reportedly in preparation of this volume. (The final chapter recounts the background and significance of New Hampshire's 1819 Toleration Act of religious freedom.) Smith's answer is recorded as "The Wentworth Letter" of 1842, and spells out the Mormon history and codifies the "Articles of Faith" for the first time. Although the Latter Day Saints are not specifically mentioned in the text, Barstow goes into detail of how other various "dissenting "sects were discriminated against in terms of taxation and law prior to 1819, but names only the Congregationalists, Universalists, Methodists and Baptists (p.432.) [The earliest Latter Day Saint congregation seems to have been a group of missionaries come to Bath, Maine in 1832.] Otherwise, this is a well-researched, well-rounded history beginning with early settlement, and giving thoughtful characterization to various colonial Royal Governors, the successes and failures of the union with Massachusetts, and the reasons for the dissolution of that union, relations between English and French forces, and how differing political and military approaches affected relations with the indigenous tribes of New England. Other interesting topics are the smallpox epidemic, famine, and the witchcraft mania, and how these affected various populations. Overall, a good read. Shaw and Shoemaker, p. 34. Sabin 3697. A copy appears also in the Catalogue of American books in the British Library, (Stevens, p. 47.) OCLC 456888157.. First Edition. Hard Cover. Very Good.