Lands of true and certain bounty

"The geographical theories and colonization strategies of the Swiss civil servant and entrepreneur Jean Pierre Purry (1675-1736) presented here for the first time in a comprehensive, annotated English-language edition, demonstrate the prominent role that empirical data and scientific knowledge played in his personal New World aspirations. The pamphlets Purry authored and published between 1717 and 1732 illustrate an abiding confidence in his theoretical conclusions regarding geography, climatology, and agricultural science. They also bear witness to a prinicipled single-mindedness of purpo...