Provenance and traces of ownership

As a consequence of institutional and national digitisation projects, an increasing number of copies of Travels (in its original, reprinted, and translated forms) are available for consultation on-line. Some of these scans, as I outline below, reveal interesting indications of provenance and ownership history. As new scans become available, I will add them to this post.

[Macintosh, William.] Travels in Europe, Asia, and Africa; describing characters, customs, manners, laws, and productions of nature and art: containing various remarks on the political and commercial interests of Great Britain: and delineating, in particular, a new system for the government and improvement of British settlements in the East Indies: begun in the year 1777, and finished in 1781. 2 vols. London: John Murray, 1782.

  • Volume 2: Google Books scan of University of California copy, bearing the inscription “For the private perusal of Captn Blanket [likely John Blankett] / January 1782″.
Inscription to Captain Blanket.

Inscription to Captain Blanket.

[Macintosh, William.] Travels in Europe, Asia, and Africa: describing characters, customs, manners, laws, and productions of nature and art: containing various remarks on the political and commercial interests of Great Britain; and delineating in particular, a new system for the government and improvement of British settlements in the East Indies. 2 vols. Dublin: Charles Lodge, [1785?].

  • No open-access digital version of this edition exists. Volume 1 and 2 of the National Library of Ireland’s copy has, however, been scanned under the auspices of Eighteenth Century Collections Online, Part II. This appears to bear the ownership inscripton of one Arthur O’Flaherty.

[Macintosh, William.] Remarks on a tour through the different countries of Europe, Asia, and Africa; giving a particular description of the characters, customs, manners and laws of each, with their natural and mechanical productions. The political and commercial interests of the English East India Company are accurately delineated: together with a proposed and well digested system, both for the improvement and better government of their possessions in the quarter. 2 vols. Dublin: J. Jones, 1786.

  • Volume 2: Internet Archive scan of University of California copy, bound in a cover bearing the impression of “Celbridge Academy” [which occupied Kildrought House, County Kildare, from 1782 to 1814] and a plate showing the book to have been purchased under the auspices of the “Robert E. Gross Collection“.

Macintosh, William. Des Herrn Mackintosh’s Reisen durch Europa, Asia und Africa, worinnen die Charaktere, Gebräuche, Sitten und Gesetze der Bewohner dieser Länder, nebst den darinnen vorhandenen Natur- und Kunst-Producten beschrieben werden; aus dem Englischen übersetzt, und mit Anmerkungen versehen. Translated by Christian August Wichmann. 2 vols. Leipzig: Friedrich Gotthold Jacobäer, 1785.

Ex Libris from library of evangelical college.

Ex Libris from library of evangelical college.

Macintosh, William. Voyages en Europe, en Asie et en Afrique, contenant la description des mœurs, coutumes, loix, productions, manufactures de ces contrées, & l’etat actuel des possessions angloises dans l’Inde; commencés en 1777, & finis en 1781, par M. Makintosh; suivis des voyages du Colonel Capper, dans les Indes, au travers de l’Egypte & du grand desert, par Suez & par Bassora, en 1779. Traduits de l’Anglois, & accompagnes de notes sur l’original & de cartes géographiques. Translated by Jacques-Pierre Brissot. 2 vols. Paris: Chez Regnault, 1786.

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