Lot 1058: BARTON, BENJAMIN SMITH. 1766-1815. New Views of the Origin of the Tribes and Nations of America. Philadelphia: Printed for the author by John Bioren, 1797.

BARTON, BENJAMIN SMITH. 1766-1815.
New Views of the Origin of the Tribes and Nations of America. Philadelphia: Printed for the author by John Bioren, 1797.
8vo. cix, [2 blank], 83 pp. Modern calf, red label to spine, spine lettered in gilt. Repair at center left margin of title page, light spotting to title and preface, with dampstaining at gutter of 2 leaves.
Provenance: Jay Snider (bookplate).

FIRST EDITION. Barton, a botanist and professor of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, compiled vocabulary lists from forty American Indian languages and compared them with European and Asian languages. Working from rudimentary data and a crude methodology, he managed to come to a conclusion which has been upheld by modern research: "The nations of America and those of Asia have a common origin" (page lxxxviii). This work is prefaced with a long dedication to Thomas Jefferson, who shared an interest in the subject. Evans 31777; Field 89; Howes B211; Pilling 297; Sabin 3819 ("first philosophical treatise on American philology by an American author").