Royall Tyler, 1809 and 1816

[TYLER, Royall (1757-1826).] The Yankey in London, being the first part of a Series of Letters written by an American Youth. New York: Isaac Riley, 1809. BAL 20735. 12mo (174 x 104mm). 180pp. 19th-century crimson half russia, marbled boards (worn). Provenance: Hall Park, McCullough (bookplate).

–. The Algerine Captive; or, the Life and Adventures of Doctor Updike Underhill, Six Years a Prisoner among the Algerines. Hartford: Peter Gleason, 1816. BAL 20738. 12mo (138 x 84mm). 252pp. Contemporary sheep (worn and faded); modern box. Provenance: Abraham Hare (inscription).

Two anonymous fictions by the humorist and notorious rake. This first edition of the Yankey in London is Tyler’s semi-fictional travel memoir; although described as the “first part,” this is all that was published. In the second work, The Algerine Captive, the bumbling and absurdly named "Updike Underhill" has a series of misadventures eventually leading to his enslavement in the Ottoman empire. Contemporary critics noted that Islam is treated rather sympathetically in the book—a nod to Tyler's Enlightenment views on religious toleration and the unifying power of reason. The present copy is a reprint of the 1802 London edition; in fact, this was only the second American novel to be reprinted in England.