Books and Manuscripts

First edition of the "definitive account of the most important exploration of the North American continent"

(Lewis, Meriwether, and William Clark)
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 During the Years 1804-5-6…
Philadelphia: Published by Bradford and Inskeep, and Abm. H. Inskeep, 1814. First edition. In two volumes. 8vo. Illustrated with five maps and charts; large folding map supplied in facsimile. Full period-style tree calf, red morocco spine labels, stamped in gilt; all edges trimmed; foxing and toning to text (as usual); tidemark in fore-edge of final leaf of second volume. Church 1309; Field 928; Graff 2477; Grolier, American 100, 30; Howes L-317; Printing and the Mind of Man 272; Tweney 89, 44; Sabin 40828; Shaw & Shoemaker 31924; Streeter 1777; Wagner-Camp 13:1

A cornerstone of Western Americana, this book describes the Government-backed expedition to explore the newly acquired Louisiana Purchase. Undertaken between 1804 and 1806, Lewis and Clark ascended the Missouri River to its source, crossed the Rocky Mountains, and reached the Pacific Ocean. In total, they covered some eight thousand miles in slightly more than twenty-eight months. Their expedition brought back the first reliable information about much of the area they traversed. They made contact with the Native American inhabitants as a prelude to the expansion of the fur trade, and advanced by a quantum leap the geographical knowledge of the continent.