Beschreibung:

Title: History of the Expedition under the Command of Captains Lewis and Clark to the Sources of the Missouri, thence across the Rocky Mountains and down the River Columbia to the Pacific Ocean, performed in the years 1804-5-6 by Order of the Government of the United States Author: Lewis, Meriwether & William Clark Place: Philadelphia Publisher: Bradford & Inskeep Date: 1814 Description: 2 volumes. xxviii, 470; ix, 522 pp. With 6 copper-engraved maps, including the folding "A Map of Lewis and Clark’s Track, Across the Western Portion of North America from the Mississippi to the Pacific Ocean,” 70x30.2 cm. 8¼x5, period tree calf, spines ruled in gilt, red morocco lettering pieces, speckled edges. First Edition. Exceptional copy, with the rare and highly important folding map, of the first edition of the official account of the most famous and most important expedition of exploration in U.S. history, a monumental undertaking executed with unbelievable skill and bravery forever embedded in the American consciousness. Derived from the journals of Lewis and Clark and other members of the expedition, the work is a rich mine of new information about a previously unexplored region. Originally expected to be published shortly after the return of the expedition in 1806, the work was delayed by a number of circumstances, including Lewis's death in 1809, and Clark's various government appointments. Although Paul Allen is listed as the editor, the major work was actually done by Nicholas Biddle, a gifted young Philadelphia lawyer who was unable to complete the final portion of the work due to his election as a state legislator, and he enlisted Paul Allen for the task. Allen's major contribution, according to Cutright, was to induce Thomas Jefferson to write a biographical sketch of Captain Lewis in tribute to his former secretary and hero of the expedition who took his own life (some say he was murdered) four years before the publication of this history. From the intended print run of 2,000 copies, 583 were defective or missing, and so of this edition no more than 1,417 copies existed. Of these, some were still defective, lacking the spectacular folding map (the frontispiece of Volume I), which was not inserted in all copies of the original. This map was removed from many, if not most, copies on the market, and those remaining are often tattered, torn or chipped, and often backed with linen to reinforce the fragile folds. Wheat calls the map, copied by Samuel Lewis from the drawing by William Clark "a cartographic achievement," and compares it to the 1804 map of Louisiana that Samuel Lewis had produced: "...the transformation and growth of knowledge ...must have astonished him. For here the Missouri is both cut to size and given life and dignity.... Across the mountains one sees the Columbia, its waters now taking on the character of a great living river..." The map in the present copy is the original, not inserted from another copy, with no tears, moderatly foxed but with no other flaws. Graff 2477; Hill 1017; Howes L317; Sabin 40828; Streeter Sale 1777; Wagner-Camp 13:1. This copy formerly belonged to Frederick W. Skiff (Portland dentist, author of Adeventures in Americana, etc.), with his bookplates, and before that it was owned by timber baron Simon Benson of Portland, Oregon, of Benson Hotel, Benson House, and "Benson Bubbler" fame. Lot Amendments Condition: A few scuffs to calf, minor rubbing to joints and extremities, spine head of Vol. I chipped; foxing to endpapers with only occasional light foxing within, Vol. I front free endpaper not present, map with professional repair to margin edge adjacent to title page; very good or better condition, a truly choice copy, each volume with custom-made half morocco slipcase. Item number: 189988