J. Martin Miller
Chicago: The Globe Publishing Co., 1902. First edition. Octavo (23 x 16 cm). Publisher’s original dark green cloth, decoratively stamped in black and gilt to the spine and upper board. A crisp, bright copy with only minor rubbing to extremities.
A dramatic contemporary account of the 1902 eruption of Mount Pelée on the island of Martinique, one of the deadliest volcanic disasters in recorded history. Written and compiled by J. Martin Miller, with contributions from John Stevens Durham, U.S. Consul to Martinique, the work documents the destruction of the city of Saint-Pierre, where nearly 30,000 people perished within minutes. It also includes extensive eyewitness testimony, early photographic records, and reports of the simultaneous eruption of La Soufrière on the nearby island of St. Vincent.
This volume combines narrative journalism with early scientific observation, offering vivid descriptions of pyroclastic flows, seismic activity, and the aftermath of the eruptions across the eastern Caribbean. Miller’s text is accompanied by numerous photographic plates depicting the ruined towns, geological formations, and scenes of local life before and after the catastrophe. These images remain among the earliest visual records of volcanic disaster in the region.
For collectors and scholars of Caribbean and West Indian history, the book captures a pivotal moment in the study of tropical volcanology and natural disaster reportage at the dawn of the twentieth century. It also provides an invaluable socio-historical record of Martinique and St. Vincent under French and British colonial administration, documenting not only devastation but the resilience and human response that followed.
This copy is in very good condition - the binding clean and sound, gilt titles still bright, and pages largely free from foxing. An appealing survival of a work once sold by subscription and often encountered in worn state.
An exceptional primary source on Caribbean seismic activity, colonial response, and early disaster photography - a key text for collectors of Caribbean history, West Indian topography, or geological observation.
