Rare and First Edition Books from Buckingham Books

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History Of The Expedition Under The Command Of Lewis And Clark, To The Sources Of The Missouri River, Thence Across The Rocky Mountains And Down The Columbia River To The Pacific Ocean, Performed During The Years 1804-5-6, By Order Of The Government Of The United States. A New Edition, Faithfully Reprinted From The Only Authorized Edition Of 1814, With Copious Critical Commentary, Prepared Upon Examination Of Unpublished Official Archives And Many Other Sources Of Information, Including A Diligent Study Of The Original Manuscript Journals And Field Notebooks Of The Explorers, Together With A New Biographical And Bibliographical Introduction, New Maps And Other Illustrations, And A Complete Index By Elliott Coues In Four Volumes COUES, ELLIOTT [EDITOR]

History Of The Expedition Under The Command Of Lewis And Clark, To The Sources Of The Missouri River, Thence Across The Rocky Mountains And Down The Columbia River To The Pacific Ocean, Performed During The Years 1804-5-6, By Order Of The Government Of The United States. A New Edition, Faithfully Reprinted From The Only Authorized Edition Of 1814, With Copious Critical Commentary, Prepared Upon Examination Of Unpublished Official Archives And Many Other Sources Of Information, Including A Diligent Study Of The Original Manuscript Journals And Field Notebooks Of The Explorers, Together With A New Biographical And Bibliographical Introduction, New Maps And Other Illustrations, And A Complete Index By Elliott Coues In Four Volumes

COUES, ELLIOTT [EDITOR]

Other works by COUES, ELLIOTT

Publication: Francis P Harper, 1893, New York

First edition of the Large Paper Edition. Four volumes. 4tos. Quarter white cloth and light gray boards, printed labels on upper spine with titles printed in black, cxxxii, 352 pp.; vi, 353 -820 pp.; vi, 821 - 1298 pp.; v, 1299 - 1364 pp. The book describes the Government-backed expedition to explore the newly acquired Louisiana Purchase undertaken from 1804 to 1806 by ascending the Missouri to its source, crossing the Rocky Mountains, and reaching the Pacific Ocean. In total, the expedition covered some eight thousand miles in slightly more than twenty-eight months. Lewis and Clark brought back the first reliable information about much of the area they traversed, made contact with the Indian inhabitants as a prelude to the expansion of the fur trade, and advanced the geographical knowledge of the continent. "A New Edition, faithfully reprinted from the only authorized edition of 1814, with copious critical commentary, prepared upon examination of unpublished official archives and many other sources of information, including a diligent study of the original manuscript journals and field notebooks of the explorers, together with a new biographical and bibliographical introduction, new maps and other illustrations, and a complete index, by Elliott Coues." This Large Paper Edition was printed on handmade paper and limited to 100 numbered copies; this is copy 73. Autograph letter signed (ALS) by Coues to publisher, Lathrop C. Harper is tipped in at the front of the first volume. A related TLS from Harper is laid in. These works also contain two frontispiece portraits, two folding facsimiles, two folding genealogical charts, and eight maps, including the three folding maps housed in the rear pocket of volume four. An American army surgeon, historian, and ornithologist, Coues (1842-1899) rediscovered the original journals of Lewis and Clark at the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia, edited them, and incorporated new material into his manuscript. His research is credited with renewing interest in the journey and led to a string of new discoveries during the decades that followed, including the surfacing of Sergeant Charles Floyd's journal, Private Joseph Whitehouse's journal, various maps and letters from William Clark, Meriwether Lewis' Ohio Journals and Sergeant John Ordway's journals. Seams of the rear pocket are split. General shelf wear to boards with gentle overall age toning to back strips and extremities with minor overall discoloring. Bookplates on front pastedowns of noted collector, Richard M. Brown. Overall a very good set.

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