Letters on Iceland: containing observations on the Civil, Literary, Ecclesiastical, and Natural History, Antiquities, Volcanos, Basaltes, Hot Springs; Customs, Dress, Manners of the Inhabitants, &c. &c by Uno von Troil - 1780

London: W Richardson in the Strand; also J Robson in New Bond Street, and N Conant in Fleet Street, 1780 A fair copy of the 1st English edition of Uno von Troil's account of his visit to Iceland with Joseph Banks and Dr Solander in 1772. It was first published in Uppsala in 1777 and the English version is taken from the German translation of 1779. Dr Von Troil studied divinity, oriental and northern languages and antiquities. He was introduced to Dr Banks when he was staying in England. The book is in the form of correspondence and contains a wealth of observation from the visit. It is bound in tree calf, which may be contemporary, and the spine has highly decorative gilt compartments and title label. The spine is splitting at the hinges and is held by the ties and by reinforcement at the front endpaper joint. There is scuffing and wear, particularly to corners. There is a pencil signature to the fep. Contents: title; contents; introduction; catalogue of writers on Iceland (xxvi); folding map; text pp 1-400 with frontispiece bound in at p 257 (next to the relevant text section). There is some browning to the side of the title and to the final leaf, and the map has a small repair at the attachment. Contents very clean with the occasional light mark.