Collection search - Journal of Jonathan Carver [textual record]

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1
Journal of Jonathan Carver [textual record]

Hierarchical level:

Item

Date:

1766-1767.

Reference:

R16725-0-8-E, MG21-Add.MSS.-8950, Volume number: 1

Type of material:

Textual material

Found in:

Archives / Collections and Fonds

Item ID number:

104543

Context of this record:

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Journal of Jonathan Carver
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Record information – Details
Date(s):

1766-1767.

Place of creation:

No place, unknown, or undetermined

Extent:

2.005 cm of textual records (118 p.) transcripts.

Language of material:

English

Scope and content:

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Item is a journal, 1766-1767, of Jonathan Carver's (1710-1780) travels, from Detroit through Lakes Huron, Michigan, and Superior, via Michilimackinac and into the country of the Nadouwesie or Sioux. The transcript (118 pages) includes: (i) A survey journal, 5 August 1766 to 30 August 1767, giving Carver's daily course, distance travelled, and a few comments (ff. 2-27). (ii) Supplementary notes to the journal (ff. 90-101). (iii). The version of the journal, 20 May 1766 to 29 August 1767, intended for publication, with additions apparently made from memory (ff. 104-166). (iv) Instructions "to the Reviser" (ff. 173-188). This reviser was probably Dr. John Coakley Lettsom (1744-1815) who is thought to have been the author of the much amended and expanded version of the journal published as Travels Through the Interior Parts of North America in the Years 1766, 1767, and 1768, by Jonathan Carver (London, 1778).

Provenance:

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Carver, Jonathan, 1710-1780

Biography/Administrative history:

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Carver, Jonathan, 1710-1780 : Traveller, author.

Jonathan Carver (1710-1780) was the son of David Carver (d. 1727) and his wife Hannah, née Dyer. He was born, 13 April 1710, in Weymouth, Massachusetts. When he was eight, his father moved to Canterbury, Connecticut. There Jonathan Carver married Abigail Robbins, 10 October 1846, by whom he had five children. He enlisted as a sergeant and was at the Siege of Fort William Henry in 1757. Having removed to Montague in Massachusetts, he became a lieutenant in 1759 and a captain in 1760 in a Massachusetts regiment. In 1766, at the instance of Major Robert Rogers (1731-1795), then Commandant at Michilimackinac, he undertook an exploration of the country west of that fort and embarked on his travels up the Mississippi and into the Great Lakes. Disappointed in the hope of publishing his account of his travels, he departed in 1769 to England, where he spent the rest of his life engaged in literary work.

In 1774, he bigamously married Mrs. Mary Harris, by whom he had one daughter. The first edition of his very popular Travels appeared in 1778. The published text differs materially from that of the original manuscript. He died in poverty in London, England, on 31 January 1780.

Finding aid:

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Textual records (Paper) Finding Aid No. 599 provides a table of contents. MSS599 (90: Open)

Additional information:

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Custodial history:

The manuscript of Jonathan Carver's journal of his travels exists in two copies which were acquired by the British Library, [ca. 1832]. The original journal is catalogued as Add. MSS. 8949 and the duplicate copy as Add. MSS. 8950. Selections from Add. MSS. 8950 (ff. 1-27, 90-101, 104-166, 173-188) were transcribed by the National Archives of Canada in 1915.

Location of originals note:

Originals with the British Library, London, England.
Subject heading:

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Jonathan Carver - Diaries, 1766-1767 Fort Michilimackinac (Mackinaw City, Mich.), 1766-1767

Travellers - Detroit (Mich.), 1766-1767 "to the reviser", 1766-1767

Travellers - Lake Huron, 1766-1767

Travellers - Lake Michigan, 1766-1767

Travellers - Lake Superior, 1766-1767

Travellers - North America, 1766-1767

Travellers - Michilimackinac (Fort), 1766-1767

Indians of North America - Dakota Indians, 1766-1767

Indians of North America - Sioux, 1766-1767

Indians of North America - Nadowessioux, 1766-1767

Authors - Travel, 1766-1767

Editors, 1766-1767

Jonathan Carver - Travel diaries, 1766-1767

Authors - Travel Diaries, 1766-1767

Authors - Diaries, 1766-1767

Surveying, 1766-1767
Source:

Private

Former archival reference no.:

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MG21-Add.MSS.-8950
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Textual records

[Consultation90 Open]

Volume [MG21 Add. Mss.-8950] 1

[Consultation 90 Open]

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Date modified:: 2024-05-10