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2 Volumes. 8vo. pp. xx, [2 leaves]incl. errata, 625, [1]; xxii, [1 leaf], 704, cxxix, [1]. 2 engraved titles, 2 folding engraved frontis. maps (the smaller one partially coloured), & 1 engraved plan. late 19th century half roan (light wear to extremities, engraved titles heavily foxed & with dampstaining, scattered light foxing, plates offset, several map tears repaired with no loss). First Edition. [WITH:] GOURLAY, Robert [Fleming]. General Introduction To Statistical Account Of Upper Canada, Compiled With A View To A Grand System Of Emigration, In Connexion With A Reform Of The Poor Laws. 8vo. pp. 1 p.l., [v]-xii, div, 47. lacking half-title. folding engraved map (frontis.). bound uniformly with the Statistical Account. London: Simpkin & Marshall, & J.M.Richardson, 1822. First Edition. A Scottish agrarian radical, Gourlay emigrated to Kingston, Upper Canada, in 1817. There he began his statistical investigations into the capabilities of the province with a view to preparing a guide for the prospective emigrant. He accordingly devised and distributed a questionnaire to the resident landowners of Upper Canada, inviting them to state their opinions on the major existing hindrances to the development and improvement of their townships. The response was unified and clear: the major grievances centred on the crown and Clergy Reserves, the lack of emigration policy and the exclusion of American settlers. Gourlay began to agitate for reform, urging Canadians to seek redress and petition the British government to conduct an official inquiry. Alarmed by Gourlay's popularity, the authorities arrested him three times; twice he was tried for seditious libel and acquitted; the third time he was finally convicted under the long dormant Alien Act of 1804, and banished from Upper Canada. Lengthy imprisonment broke his spirit and health and for the rest of his life he was subject to attacks of insanity. His Statistical Account, "the chief monument to [his] stay in Upper Canada" (DCB), is the most informative compilation of information on the progress of settlement there at the time. "Though Gourlay made no attempt to analyse them, the 57 township reports he printed present an unrivalled picture of provincial social and economic life." (DCB) The supplementary volume (General Introduction.), separately published the same year, provides a lengthy and detailed account of Gourlay's experiences and treatment in Upper Canada, and includes the text of many of his letters and addresses, 1817-22. Gagnon I 1535. Lande 276-77. Morgan pp. 156-57. Sabin 28138 & 28143. TPL 1253-54. Story p. 323. DCB IX pp. 330-36.
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