Statistics of the Colonies of the British Empire
OCLC 719996715 | |
Statistics of the Colonies of the British Empire (or more completely, Statistics of the Colonies of the British Empire in the West Indies, South America, North America, Asia, Austral-Asia, Africa, and Europe) is a work by
The book was published in Royal Octavo (10" by 6¼") and contains roughly 1000 pages, arranged in double columns. In 1839, the book costed £2. 2s.[1] which is approximately £233 in 2018.
Background
Featured in the preface of the book, it is reported that in 1836-7, the Committee of the
Due to time and expenditure (it was estimated to cost about £10,000) the initiative was abandoned by the
The Blue books consist of three blank books that were sent to the colonies each year so to be filled in where two of them were returned to Downing Street and another remained in the possession of the colony's Governor.[2]
In order to do that, he wrote a letter to Sir George Grey who was at the time the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies, stating his request to access the blue books for this project which he completed using his own expenses and without official assistance.[2][3]
Martin received permission from
Stated in the preface, his motivation for compiling the
Content
Front page and Introduction
The front page of the book started off with a Map of the Colonial Possessions of Great Britain, dated in 1838. Areas within the British Empire were coloured in pink. Martin claimed in the preface report that the map was attached by Mr. Wyld, the Queen’s geographer.[2] In the next section is an overview of the statistics of the colonies, followed by the preface which was named “Report” as well as the index. Next comes the seals of the colonies of the British Empire, designed by Mr. Wyon, the chief engraver of the Royal Mint. Stated in the preface, Martin claimed that it was the first time that the seals were shown to the public.[2] His 1843 reprint of History of the Colonies of the British Empire contained exactly the same front page and introduction,[6] claiming that it was the first time that the seals were publicly shown even though they had been shown before in 1838. The book was also printed by the same publisher, W. H. Allen & Co.[6]
Structure
The book is arranged into chapters geographically where one colony refers to one chapter. The chapters are further divided into numbered sections according to the general structure of general information, economics, and culture. The different categories in the sections include area, population, commerce, education, religion, etc. The seven chapters that comprised half of the book is arranged as follows:
- Book 1: West Indies
- Book 2: South America
- Book 3: North America
- Book 4: Asia
- Book 5: Austral-Asia
- Book 6: Africa
- Book 7: Europe
The other half of the book houses the appendix which is also separated by colonies beginning with the West Indies and ending with Europe. The appendix consists of statistics what supports Martin's claims and descriptions made in the corresponding sections. The information presented in the appendix differs geographically.
The West Indies appendix features the general trade of each islands including exports to
In the North America appendix there are several important statements in relation to the land acquired in Canada after the British gained a vast amount of land in Eastern Canada from France via the Treaty of Paris (1763).
Other editions
The Statistics is not one of a kind but rather was derived from other books that was also written by Martin. In the early 1830s, Martin took it upon himself to write and stress on the importance and value of the British colonies to the public.[5] In 1834, the published the book History of the British Colonies in 5 volumes. While the book was well received, Martin was faced with a complaint that it was expensive. He condensed the 5-volume books into one volume and published it under the name British Colonial Library. The new version contained the same material with a few statistical pages omitted. It was also cheaper and more suited for the masses.[5] The Statistics contains similar textual information as the aforementioned two books but is more statistically dense.