John Jewitt's Adventure by Shannon Garst ~ 1955 YA Historical Novel ~ Fur Trading & Captivity with Nootka Indians on Vancouver Island ~ PNW

Title: John Jewitt's Adventure
Author: Shannon Garst / Illustrated by Donald McKay
Publication: Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1955

Description: Blue cloth boards with yellow lettering on spine and a pictorial of a Nootka mask stamped in bottom corner of top cover. Clean and unmarked. Dust jacket shows light edge and corner wear; not price clipped ($2.75); portrait of author on rear flap; in an archival mylar sleeve. 13 full- page illustrations. 211 pages.

The story of John Jewitt, based on the true account of this young man, who, in 1802, joined a fur-trading expedition to the Pacific Northwest, and their dramatic engagement with the Nootka on Vancouver Island in the spring of the following year.

From the front flap: ''For her latest book, Shannon Garst has taken one of the little-known characters of history and made a thrilling story of his personal adventures. The book contains a vivid and colorful picture of life on board a trading vessel in the early nineteenth century, and a dramatic account of John's capture by the Indians [and more than two years of captivity]. The life and ceremonial customs of the Indians of the Pacific Northwest are described with an accuracy and detail that characterize all of the author's writings.''

Doris Shannon Garst (1894-1981) was the author of western-themed historical novels and also wrote nonfiction, mostly biographies. The illustrator, Donald Alexander McKay (1914-2005), was a an artist and commercial illustrator who had studied at the Pratt Institute and with the Mexican artist Alfredo Zalce. His work appeared in the pages of Time, Life magazine, Newsweek, National Geographic, and other publications. He had solo exhibitions at Vanderbilt University and Briarcliff College.


Binding: Hardcover
Condition: Near Fine
Jacket Condition: Very Good

Keywords: fiction, young adult, YA, juvenile, Nootka, Maquinna, Nuu-chah-nulth, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Native American, fur trading, captivity,