BECK, Lewis Caleb (1798-1853). A Gazetteer of the states of Illinois and Missouri. Albany: C. R. and G. Webster, 1823.
8vo (216 x 134 mm). Half-title, folding map, 5 engraved plates (3 folding). (Folding map with 4-in. tear with old repair, a few pale spots.) Later half green calf, marbled boards (some light wear to joints and extremities, upper hinge just starting). FIRST EDITION of one of the earliest books describing the Illinois settlement and present-day Missouri, "an important book. Beck gives the first full length account of Illinois and Missouri, and the map, on the fairly large scale of 24 miles to the inch, is the first map of either state on such a large scale" (Streeter). The map depicts St. Louis as a rather large town, but Chicago, not yet sufficiently sized to justify a dot, is shown only by Ft. Dearborn and Chicago Creek. RARE: according to online records, only 3 copies of this work have appeared at auction in the last 30 years. Graff 224; Howes B-297; Sabin 4231; Streeter III:1438.
Provenance: Edwin Stanton Fickes (1872-1943), Engineer and Vice President, Alcoa Aluminium (bookplate); acquired from Peter Decker, 1961.
