Three Years in Canada: an Account of the Actual State of the Country in 1826-7-8. in Two Volumes. First Edition Comprehending its Resources, Productions, Improvements, and Capabilities; and Including Sketches of the State of Society, Advice to Emigrants, & C. by MacTaggart, John - 1829

London: Henry Colburn. Good with no dust jacket. 1829. First Edition. Hardcover. KB28...vii, 347 AND viii, 340 pp. Octavo. Bound in 1975 in slate blue buckram by UofT Press, unadorned, bit of shelfwear on the cloth, but otherwise neat and clean. New pale blue endpapers, both volumes have bookplate of author and historian Stanley Fillmore dated 1955. Books were donated by Mrs. Fillmore to a local history society, with their notation and stamps on title page and elsewhere. Much older ownership sig on title pages, otherwise the text is clean and unmarked, binding is sturdy and sound. Handsome and plain, good copy. "A remarkable record of social and scientific observations." MacTaggart was a Scot who was involved in surveying the land for the Rideau Canal, as well as possible waterways to Kingston, "significantly observing that he “got back to the Ottawa alive. " He was also involved with the Welland Canal and exploring tracts of land near Lake Huron. He also built a stone bridge over Chaudiere Falls, a significant engineering feat for its day. MacTaggart was not fond of Anglo-Canadians or Yankees but had great admiration for the Indigenous peoples he met. "The natural beauties of the Canadas, he thought, were “not to be matched in the world, ” and the potential wealth of the country gave a “consequence to Britain not to be sneered at. ” His vision of the country and its economic future included a canal system linking the town of Quebec with the Pacific coast." He died in 1831 of the effects of swamp fever he had contracted while working in Ottawa. A fascinating work, hard to find complete, in the first edition. ; 8vo 8" - 9" tall .