The Young Fur Traders, Ballantyne, R. M. Published by Thomas Nelson & Sons Ltd. London, Edinburgh and New York. Circa 1920. Inscription dated 1921. 12mo up to 7½” tall., 296pp., illustrated with 8 full page colour plates, and black and white in text illustrations. Decorated blue cloth covered boards, with inlaid picture front-cover. Inscription front endpaper, rubbing to boards, dusting to edges, light toning; hinges weakened although all pages still firmly attached.
“This is the story of the hard life of a trapper in Canada in the early 1800s. Charlie Kennedy lives in the Canadian arctic colony known as the Red River Settlement with Indians, Scotsmen, and French-Canadian settlers. His father, an old fur trader, hopes to convince his son to become a clerk by recounting the dangers of the trapper’s life, but the stories only inspire the boy more to explore the vast Canadian wilderness”.
Robert Michael Ballantyne (1825-1894) was a Scottish author of juvenile fiction, who wrote more than a hundred books. He was also an accomplished illustrator and artist. At the age of 16 he went to Canada and was six years in the service of the Hudson’s Bay Company. Many of Charlie’s exploits in this book are based on are taken from R.M. Ballantyne’s own experiences of his time with the Hudson’s Bay.
