Timberlake Lieutenant Henry (d. 1765) The Memoirs.

Timberlake, Lieutenant Henry (d. 1765) The Memoirs. London: for the Author, sold by Ridley, Nicoll, and Henderson, 1765. First and only 18th century edition, octavo, with half-title and the folding map, "A Draught of the Cherokee Country on the west side of the twenty four Mountains commonly called Over the Hills," and the folding engraved plate depicting an encoded page from the journal of a French officer killed by Indians; a large copy, with deckle edges in evidence; in contemporary dark blue straight-grained morocco boards, decorated with rolled gilt tooling along board edges and inner dentelles, rebacked, tan endpapers replaced over the original marbled ones at the same time, 8 1/4 x 5 in. "Lt. Henry Timberlake's Memoirs provide the most detailed account of Cherokee life in the eighteenth century. Timberlake visited the Cherokee Overhill towns for three months in 1761-62 and accompanied three Cherokee leaders to London to meet with King George III and other political figures." (from the description of Duane H. King's new edition of the Memoirs , University of North Carolina Press, 2007) "[Timberlake's] detailed descriptions of Cherokee villages, townhouses, weapons, and tools have helped historians and anthropologists identify Cherokee structures and cultural objects uncovered at modern archaeological excavation sites throughout the southern Appalachian region. During the Tellico Archaeological Project, which included a series of salvage excavations conducted i Read more…