The Journal of Major George Washington, London, 1754
$12.00
In October of 1753, George Washington, a major in the Virginia militia, volunteered to carry a letter from the governor of Virginia to the French commander of the forts recently built on the headwaters of the Ohio River in northwestern Pennsylvania. The French had recently expanded their military operations from the Great Lakes into the Ohio country, and had spent the summer of 1753 building forts and roads along the Allegheny River, with the design of linking their trade routes and sphere of influence down the Ohio to the Mississippi. When he returned to Virginia, he was asked to write a report of the mission and submit it to the Governor. Not having much time, he quickly wrote an account and gave the journal to Governor Dinwiddie the next day. Much to his surprise, the journal was published in Williamsburg and London. This reprint is from a private collection and is the later London edition, and contains a large folding map of the Ohio country as described by Washington. Side stitched as issued, 46 pp + map. As a note of interest. An original of this work was sold at Bonham’s Auction House in 2018 for $25,000 including a premium.
