Utterly fascinating. I wish I had more bks like this in my library. This is probably as close as I'll ever come to reading primary source material from almost 400 yrs ago. This 1635 bk is reproduced complete w/ original typeface & version of English. Ever wonder what a Jesuit wd've written to try to entice settlers to the east coast of North America way back 140 yrs before it became the United States? Well, this is the bk for you! The natives are written about in a fairly friendly & fair way - too bad all that got thrown out the window ASAP!

Being from Baltimore but knowing nothing about the aristocrat that the city's named after, it's very interesting to read things like the following in the bk's foreword:

"This charter was granted by a Protestant king to a Catholic subject without qualifications. It conferred on Lord Baltimore the authority of a count palatine, making him virtually a king within his own province. he had the power to make and publish the laws of the land, with the stipulation, however, that they be with the "advise, assent, and approbation of the free-men." Although Lord Baltimore in fact had powers of a feudal lord, the old medieval system was not to the liking of the free men of Maryland, who put their own interpretation on "advise, assent, and approbation." The second assembly which met in 1639 rejected the code of laws sent over by the Proprietor and drew up its own ordinance to which Lord Baltimore had to agree." ( )