The History of the Province of New-York, from the First Discovery. To which is annexed, A Description of the Country, with a short Account of the Inhabitants, their Trade, Religious and Political State, and the Constitution of the Courts of Justice in the Colony

William Smith

London : Printed for J. Almon, 1776

Octavo, 21 cm. Second edition of the first history of New York up to 1736, first printed in London in 1757. Later crushed red Moroccan leather by Thierry sc. de Petit-Simier, gilt seal of the State of New York to boards. Raised bands, marbled endpapers, top edge gilt. viii, 334pp. Restoration to spine, rejointed. Minor toning.  Howes S703. Sabin 84566. Streeter 871 (ref.).

William Smith was a lawyer and judge in colonial New York. His history of New York detail the history of the state from 1492 to 1732. Smith planned and began work on a sequel, treating 1732-1762, that was published posthumously in 1826. At first seeking to avoid revolution by siding with the British under Lord North, who proposed granting to the Americans everything short of independence, Smith eventually became a loyalist and emigrated to England. Still, his History gave him legitimacy as an expert on New York, for which he hoped to be granted command and territory by the British. The book comprises five historical sections, with the fifth containing a treatment of the legislative and judicial structures in pre-Revolutionary New York.