Willis, N. P. — Al'Abri, or the Tent Pitched

New-York, Samuel Colman, 1839. Hardcover. Brown cloth, paper title on spine; 184 pp. A travel narrative of sorts penned by American author, poet and editor Nathaniel Parker Willis (1806-1867), told in the form of letters to a distant correspondent referred to as "Doctor." Willis offers an explanation in the preface: "The letters which form the present volume, were written in the Valley of the Susquehannah, from a beautiful glen some eighty miles above Wyoming [a town in north-central Pennsylvania]. The author, after many years' travel in Europe and the East, has there 'pitched his tent.' The letters were addressed to the friend to whom they are inscribed; but, as they embody a freshly-drawn picture of the scenery and mode of life on the banks of the beautiful river, celebrated by the muse of Campbell, it has been thought worth while to collect them in a volume for publication. For two or three exquisite sketches of this part of the Valley of the Susquehannah, the reader is referred to the work on American Scenery now in publication from drawings by Bartlett." That happens to be an illustrated book that Willis wrote the narrative for. Here the reader will hear tales of early rural Pennsylvania and New York state. G- (Average wear to binding edges and corners and head and heel of spine; slight soiling on covers; moderately foxed throughout, though most text is clear.) .