152 pp. Plus 14 pages of manuscript verse at the rear (numbered by hand 155-168). (8vo) period marbled boards, with modern morocco rebacking, spine lettered in gilt. First Edition.


Inscribed on front free endpaper: "To Marmaduke Martin Esq. from His Obedt. Servt. The Author 18th January." At the rear of the volume Walker has written out four additional poems, noting their titles on the Contents page; and on the title-page he has noted that the book was actually published on January 9, 1817. The title poem, which with its preface and notes occupies some 115 pages, is concerned with the Venezuelan War of Independence of the early 19th century, and in particular the tyranny of the Spanish General Juan Domingo Monteverde, the tyranny of the Spanish General Juan Domingo Monteverde, the treachery of General Francisco Miranda, and the struggles of Simon BolÌvar. In the explanatory notes the author states that he was in Venezuela from at least 1810 to 1812. Little is known of James Scott Walker (1793-1850). In 1830 he published An Accurate Description of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway..., describing the construction, route, and inauguration (including the accidental death of Sir William Huskisson) of that pioneering line. This work went through several editions. The added manuscript poems include: "Verses Written on..the Anniversary of Burns's Birthday..1817, " "The Lament of the dying Emigrant" (in which the speaker bewails his exile from Scotia and from his beloved Emily to "the distant plains of Columbia"), "On the Death of the Princess Charlotte, " and "To Prince Leopold of Saxe Cobourg." Evidently these poems were printed in the second edition of 1819. OCLC locates just four copies of the first edition of this work and a single copy of the second. Sabin 101062 (Second Edition only).