![[PANAMA] PHILO-CALEDON (from preface)[=FOYER, ARCHIBALD]. A defence of the Scots settlement at Darien. With an answer to the S...](/sites/default/files/styles/auction_slider/public/images/lots/647/1491647.jpg?itok=0keHQDbI)
Lot Details
Lot 77
[PANAMA] PHILO-CALEDON (from preface)[=FOYER, ARCHIBALD]. A defence of the Scots settlement at Darien. With an answer to the Spanish memorial against it. And arguments to prove that it is the interest of England to join with the Scots; and protect it. To which is added, a description of the country, and a particular account of the Scots colony.
Edinburgh: [s.n.], 1699. Later three-quarters calf, marbled sides. 7 1/8 x 4 1/8 inches (18.5 x 11.75 cm); [viii], 86 pp., collating A-M^[4]. Light binding wear, title a bit dust-soiled, leaf C2 with two short tears (one just entering text) and a small marginal loss, still a clean copy overall.
Four simultaneous editions of this rare little work are listed by ESTC; this is the first listed, though there is no clear evidence of the sequence of publication. The usual attribution of authorship (given above) is based on "...a manuscript note in the librarian's copy of the Catalogue of the New College Library (Edin. 1868), the author is Archibald Foyer," (to quote ESTC). It has also been attributed to George Ridpath and Andrew Fletcher. The margins in this copy are quite large, well clear of the running titles and catchwords; often the work is found close-cropped.
The Darien scheme to create a trading colony in Panama proved a debacle of monumental proportions. Promoted by The Company of Scotland Trading to Africa and the Indies, a great deal of Scottish wealth was funneled speculatively into the project, whose failure was the result of inept leadership and infighting. This was materially compounded by Spanish animosity to what was seen as a territorial incursion; heat and disease (of the 2,500 settlers in the two expeditions, only a few hundred survived to return to Scotland); and the lack of support from the English Crown, which was concerned about antagonizing Spain. The ultimate financial losses to Scottish nobility were so severe that it seems likely that they hastened the 1707 Act of Union with England, which included a provision that effectively offset the Scottish national debt, bloated by the failure. All the editions are scarce in commerce.
C Property of a Massachusetts Gentleman
Additional Notes & Condition Report
No condition report? Click here to request one.