The name of George Cartwright will be well known to historians of the southern portion of Labrador, the territory he effectively made his own during his long residence there as a merchant after leaving the British Army in which he reached the rank of Captain. Between 1770 and 1786 he undertook six expeditions to the area between Cape St Charles and Hamilton Inlet and overwintered several times. His great memoir recording his exploits that covered the whole gamut of human activity on that then almost unknown coast was published in 1792. Among other noteworthy aspects of his career was taking a few local people to England where they caused a minor sensation. The book comprised three massive volumes and anyone who wished or wishes to undertake a serious study of the history of Labrador (and Newfoundland) and its peoples must force majeure be familiar with it. In the words of D.W. Prowse, the eminent Newfoundland historian, it is ‘one of the most remarkable books ever written’ (Prowse Reference Prowse2002: 599). The original edition only rarely comes up for auction and when it does, it always fetches what seems to be an almost phenomenal price.
The purpose of this short notice is to draw the attention of those with Cartwright interests to this new reprint published in 2012 in the Cambridge Library Collection ‘Books of enduring scholarly value’ series. It is a measure of the development of printing technology that the contents of this reproduction are absolutely exact. When one opens a volume, one is impressed by the typeface which is as easy to read as was that of the original. This is, moreover, a full reproduction and nothing is excluded, even the wonderful list of subscribers. One notes with interest that the Prince of Wales subscribed for four copies, two in large paper and two in small. The list comprises ‘the great and the good’ of the period and it seems that Cartwright had no difficulty in securing supporters although this might have been because of the huge publicity he obtained by bringing the Labrador natives to England. As well as the text, the maps of the original are reproduced although as fold-outs were prohibited, as a matter of cost one suspects, they are rather small. But the full size version of the maps can be secured via links helpfully provided. The frontispiece, the well-known picture of Cartwright ‘visiting his Fox-traps’ is faithfully presented. The volumes are softbound but the cover design is attractive and the binding is reasonably solid. The volumes merit careful handling.
One must congratulate Cambridge University Press on this venture that makes a very rare but important book available to a wide readership in an attractive reproduction.
