Colonial America
1858 First Limited Edition "The Causes which led to PHILIP'S INDIAN WAR of 1675 and 1676, by JOHN EASTON"
1858-Dated First Limited Edition Book titled, "A Narrative of the Causes which led to Philip's Indian War, of 1675 and 1676, by John Easton of Rhode Island. (Complete with Foldout MAP) and other Documents concerning this Event in the Office of the Secretary of State of New York." By Franklin B. Hough, Albany, N.Y., Very Fine.
A very rare first Limited Edition, limited to 125 copies. printed historical account first penned by John Easton in 1676. John Easton (1617-1705) was Deputy Governor of Rhode Island in the winter of 1675-1676 when he wrote this account of the beginnings of King Philip's War. One copy of the document was sent to Sir Edmund Andros, the governor of New York, and it was preserved in the state archives and is the original source of the version presented here. Jenny Hale Pulsipher writes that Easton "also may have sent copies of the narrative to England, proving to authorities that, contrary to Massachusetts's repeated protests, the colonies, not the Indians, bore responsibility for the conflict." The "Relation" apparently circulated among some influential persons in New England, because Increase Mather seems to make reference to it in the preface to his A Brief History of the War with the Indians in New-England (1676). Internally a clean nice copy with its original hard covers which measure 11.5" tall x 9" wide. The front cover is loosening at the spine with typical wear, the large Foldout Map is Intact, having a fine tape sealed 6" tear at bottom right of the blank reverse at the spine. This volume includes; Papers relating to Philip's Indian War.--Record of a court martial held at Newport, R.I., in August 1676, for the trial of Indians charged with being engaged in Philip's designs. Topics include; King Philip's War, 1675-1676, Indians of North America -- Rhode Island, Rhode Island -- History Colonial period, c. 1600-1775. This current example is the original large Volume First Edition printing (now also available as a modern reprint). This 1858 First Edition includes the large foldout Map with hand-colored outline and vignette at lower right showing a Colonial Homestead burning in flames in an Indian attack. Limited to 125 copies in 1858 and is missing in most library collections.
Easton's account is quite different from Mather's: where Mather was at pains to demonstrate that the Indians attacked the English without provocations, Easton gives both a full statement of the Native perspective (as presented by their leaders in pre-war negotiations) and a candid, if perhaps jaundiced, view of the motives of the United Colonies (Massachusetts, Plymouth, and Connecticut) and their established Puritan clergies.



Easton was a Quaker who, along with his father, had been forced out of Massachusetts in 1638. His father, Nicolas Easton (1593"1675), was President of Rhode Island in 1650"1651 and 1654, Deputy Governor 1666-1669 and 1670-1671, and Governor in 1672"1674. John Easton served as Deputy Governor 1674"1676, and as Governor of Rhode Island 1690-1695.



Easton's "Relation of the Indian War" was first printed in 1858, and was reprinted in 1913 by Charles Lincoln in his Narratives of the Indian Wars 1675"1699. Both of these editions reproduce Easton's unorthodox spelling and orthography, and may appear somewhat opaque to the modern reader. For the sake of greater clarity, this present edition renders Easton's "Relation" in modern English, changing spelling and word order and adding punctuation and auxilliary words as needed. The original language, as reprinted in Lincoln's compilation, is included as an appendix. Four paragraphs relating to Easton from Lincoln's introduction are also reproduced.