Description
The first American edition of Tales of the Labrador, signed by Wilfred Thomason Grenfell.
Small octavo, [6], 239, [3]pp. Publisher’s blue cloth, title stamped in white on cover and spine. The first printing, with “Published November 1916” on the copyright page. Illustrated with frontispiece; collated complete. Old newspaper clippings affixed to the rear pastedown, with associated toning. In the publisher’s scarce dust jacket, chipping along the head of the spine, bright illustrations in blue, a very good example.
Inscribed on the front free endpaper: “Faithfully yours / Wilfred T. Grenfell / Labrador / Feb. 24, 1922.”
Sir Wilfred Thomason Grenfell (1865-1940) was a British physician, medical missionary, author, and social reformer best known for his work in Newfoundland and Labrador. Trained at the London Hospital Medical College, Grenfell joined the Royal National Mission to Deep Sea Fishermen and was sent to Labrador in 1892, where he established medical services for isolated fishing communities along the coast. His work expanded from medicine into hospitals, nursing stations, orphanages, schools, cooperatives, and industrial projects, eventually becoming the International Grenfell Association. Grenfell wrote widely about Labrador life and mission work, including Vikings of To-Day, Adrift on an Ice-Pan, and Tales of the Labrador, and was knighted in 1927 for his medical and humanitarian service.
