The Widowed Missionary’s Journal; containing some Account of Madagascar: and also A Narrative of the Missionary Career of the Rev. J. Jeffreys; who died on a passage from Madagascar to the Isle of France, July 4, 1825, aged 31 years. – Jeffreys, Keturah

First printing of this work, 204pp. with a 24 pp. subscriber’s list to the read and a silhouette frontis. Contains a pencil sketch of the author, of unknown origin. Keturah Yarold Jeffreys (1791 -1858) married the missionary John Jeffreys (1792-1825) and had four children. Under the auspices of the London Missionary Society (LMS) they departed for Madagascar on 4 August 1821, serving there as missionaries from 7 May 1822 to 20 June 1825. They left out of concerns for Keturah and the children’s health but it was her husband who succumbed to malaria during the return voyage to England. Keturah and her children returned to England where she found herself in financial distress. In July of 1826 she offered the LMS a ‘History of Madagascar’ – compiled, in part, from her husband’s journals. The Society reviewed and rejected the manuscript as containing too much ‘colouring’, although it has been suggested that the Society’s reviewer was a rival author. After further revision, Jeffreys published her book by subscription as the “Widowed Missionary’s Journal’. A form to which the LMS lent its support. ( British Travel Writing – Keturah Jeffreys https://btw.wlv.ac.uk/authors/1078)

Publisher: Printed for the author and sold by all booksellers
Date Published: 1827
Publication Place: Southampton
First Edition: Yes

Condition: Good.
Binding: Rebound in a plain leather binding