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THE CORNERSTONE OF AMERICAN EXPLORATION:
EXCEEDINGLY RARE FIRST EDITION OF THE DEFINITIVE ACCOUNT OF THE LEWIS & CLARK EXPEDITION, THE MOST IMPORTANT EXPLORATION
OF THE NORTH AMERICAN CONTINENT,
WITH SCARCE AND IMPORTANT LARGE FOLDING MAP
LEWIS, Meriwether and CLARK, William. History of the Expedition Under the Command. Philadelphia, 1814. Two volumes. Exceptionally rare first edition, one of only 1417 copies printed, of the definitive account of the most important exploration of the North American continent, with the famous large folding map of the course of the expedition and five in-text maps. $225,000.
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FIRST EDITION OF MCKENNEY AND HALL’S HISTORY OF THE INDIAN TRIBES OF NORTH AMERICA, WITH EXTRAORDINARY LARGE FOLIO HAND-COLORED PORTRAITS OF AMERICAN INDIANS
MCKENNEY, Thomas and HALL, James. History of the Indian Tribes of North America. Philadelphia, 1838-44. Three volumes. The rare, monumental first folio edition of one of the landmarks of American history, an excellent copy complete with 120 bright and fully hand-colored lithographic plates after Charles Bird King’s original oil paintings, “the most colorful portraits of Indians ever executed.” First issue of Volumes I and III, second issue of Volume II. This copy bound from the original parts, with many of the original printed paper wrappers bound in, and includes plates that are colored to a uniformly high standard. $175,000.
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“ONE OF THE MOST SOUGHT OF ALL BOOKS RELATING TO MONTANA”: INSCRIBED BY THE AUTHOR IN THE YEAR OF PUBLICATION, ONE OF ONLY 15 COPIES
FRANCIS, Charles Spencer. Sport Among the Rockies. Troy, New York, 1889. Limited first edition, one of only 15 copies issued for private distribution, a collection of 25 letters authored by newspaper publisher Charles Francis, this presentation copy inscribed by him in the year of publication to “Mr. L. L. Warren, with the compliments of Charles S. Francis, Aug. 15, 1889,” featuring 48 vintage albumen prints (each five by eight inches and mounted on heavy card stock) displaying exceptional images of 19th-century Western America. This extremely scarce copy from the library of photographer and musician Graham Nash, with his signed bookplate. $55,000.
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FIRST ENGLISH EDITION OF LEWIS AND CLARK
LEWIS, Meriwether and CLARKE, William. Travels to the Source of the Missouri River. London, 1814. First English edition of the best-known and most significant travel narrative in the history of the United States, published in the same year as the American first edition, with large folding map and five charts (on three plates). Printed on larger, finer paper than the Philadelphia first and issued in one quarto volume instead of two octavo volumes, this is considered to be of superior typography and format. A very handsome copy in contemporary calf-gilt. $45,000.
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“A CORNERSTONE OF ANY COLLECTION OF WESTERN AMERICANA”
PIKE, Zebulon. Account of Expeditions to the Sources of the Mississippi. Philadelphia, 1810. Two volumes, text and atlas. Rare first edition of “one of the great chronicles of American pioneering achievement,” the primary account of the first United States government expedition to the Southwest, with six maps (five folding) and three folding tables bound in a separate atlas volume, and engraved frontispiece portrait of Pike. $38,000.
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ARTIST HOWARD PYLE’S COPY OF MCKENNEY AND HALL’S
INDIAN TRIBES OF NORTH AMERICA
MCKENNEY, Thomas and HALL, James. History of the Indian Tribes of North America. Philadelphia, 1855. Three volumes. Early octavo edition of one of the most recognized and desirable American color plate books produced in the 19th century, illustrated with 120 splendid fully hand-colored lithographic plates by J.T. Bowen after Charles Bird King’s original oil paintings, “the most colorful portraits of Indians ever executed” (Howes). Beautifully bound in publisher’s deluxe morocco-gilt, with bookplates of famous Brandywine artist Howard Pyle, known as the “father of the Golden Age of American illustration.” $35,000.
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“TRULY A LANDMARK IN AMERICAN CULTURE”
MCKENNEY, Thomas and HALL, James. History of the Indian Tribes of North America. Philadelphia, 1858. Three volumes. Early octavo edition of one of the most recognized and desirable American color plate books produced in the 19th century, illustrated with 120 splendid fully hand-colored lithographic plates by J.T. Bowen after Charles Bird King’s original oil paintings, “the most colorful portraits of Indians ever executed” (Howes). Beautifully bound in publisher’s deluxe morocco. $33,000.
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RARE ASSOCIATION COPY OF THE SOUTHWEST ORDINANCE, 1790, KEY TO AMERICA’S FRONTIER HISTORY AND A LANDMARK TEXT IN THE STRUGGLE WITH SLAVERY, FROM THE LIBRARY OF INFLUENTIAL SENATOR, STEPHEN ROW BRADLEY
(UNITED STATES CONGRESS). Southwest Ordinance. Act for the Government of the Territory of the United States. [New York], [1790]. Rare first printing of the Southwest Ordinance, a seminal document in establishing America’s frontier whose crucial exception to the abolition of slavery within its borders broke with the earlier Northwest Ordinance, thereby asserting a powerful interpretation of the Constitution that further denied “all Congressional power to regulate the internal slave trade,” a memorable association copy from the library of the powerful United States senator from Vermont, Stephen Row Bradley. $25,000.
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“THE CLICK OF A SHUTTER OPENED THE DOOR TO ETERNITY”
CURTIS, Edward. Photograph signed. At the Old Well of Acoma. Seattle, Washington, circa 1904 / printed circa 1920. Vintage orotone print by Edward Curtis, titled “The Old Well of Acoma,” signed by him and distinctly marked with his copyright insignia (wetstamped at the lower corner of the image), this handsome 9 by 11-inch photograph printed at his Seattle “Curtis Studio” and ultimately published in Curtis’ multi-volume masterpiece, The North American Indian (1907-30). Very fine condition in beautiful original frame. $23,000.
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THIS COPY OF COLTON’S WALL MAP WAS USED TO PLOT TROOP MOVEMENTS DURING THE CIVIL WAR
SMITH, John Calvin. Colton's Map of the United States of America. New York, 1854. 1854 edition of Colton’s landmark steel-engraved wall map of the United States. The manuscript cover label reads, “This map hung on the dining room wall of Schuyler Cottage at Nevis ——, N.Y. The U.S. & Confederate forces—advances & retreats marked by rows of red and black headed pins.” $20,000.
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