Enoch Crosby; or, The Spy Unmasked.; A Tale of the American Revolution.
Cincinnati, OH: U. P. James, 1841. later edition, presumed first printing thus. Stiff boards. 14 cm. 104 pages and with Ramble item 128 total pages. Illustrations. Date of 1841 written in pencil on title page. Name of previous owner present on the inside cover--Middle name is Crosby! Front board separated but present. Some pencil underlining. noted. Based upon the facts narrated by Crosby to H. L. Barnum. 24 pages of Robert Ramble's Book of Heroes bound in. As reported in his obituary in the Cabinet Newspaper (Schenectady, NY), July 8, 1835, p. 3, Crosby's life was the basis for the character Harvey Birch in The Spy, a novel published in 1821 and authored by the American writer James Fenimore Cooper. Enoch Crosby (1750?1835) was an American soldier and spy during the Revolutionary War. His life may have been the basis for the character Harvey Birch in James Fenimore Cooper's novel The Spy. Crosby enlisted with a Connecticut regiment in the first weeks of the war. His unit became part of the invasion of Canada by the Continental Army in 1775. Following the capture of Montreal, his enlistment expired and he returned to Danbury to continue his career as a shoemaker. He was recruited to spy full-time by John Jay, and to gain entry into loyalist and British circles, he adopted the identity of a spy employed by the British General Howe. By doing so, he became an object of hatred for many of his friends and family. Crosby requested that if he died, the Committee of Safety would clear his name of supporting the British, and they also gave him a special pass to be used in an emergency if he was captured by American forces. Condition: poor.
Keywords: American Revolution, Spies, Espionage, Enoch Crosby, Committee of Safety, Prisoner, Soldiers, Robert Ramble, Juvenile Literature, Harvey Birch, James Fenimore Cooper
[Book #46410]
Price: $125.00