FIRST ENGLISH EDITION OF LEWIS AND CLARK: THE DEFINITIVE ACCOUNT OF THE MOST IMPORTANT EXPLORATION OF THE NORTH AMERICAN CONTINENT, IN HANDSOME CONTEMPORARY CALF-GILT

LEWIS, Meriwether and CLARKE, William. Travels to the Source of the Missouri River and Across the American Continent to the Pacific Ocean. Performed by Order of the Government of the United States, in the Years 1804, 1805, and 1806. London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, 1814. Quarto, contemporary full polished calf rebacked with original elaborately gilt-decorated spine neatly laid down, raised bands, red morocco spine label, marbled endpapers and edges.    $45,000.

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.

“American explorers had for the first time spanned the continental United States and had driven the first wedge toward opening up our new far western frontier” (Streeter 1777). The Lewis and Clark expedition was the first fully planned, funded, and executed by the United States, and its importance remains unsurpassed. Though it coincided with the Louisiana Purchase, the expedition was planned secretly by Thomas Jefferson with the support of Congress. The final attempt to discover a river route across the continent, the expedition finally dispelled the myth of the existence of a Northwest Passage in the explored latitudes; it also served to establish relations with a number of Indian tribes, identify several passages across the mountains, and stimulate interest in the fur-trade. Perhaps most importantly, however, the expedition reinforced United States claims to the area between the headwaters of the Mississippi-Missouri Rivers and the Pacific Ocean. The explorers ascended the Missouri from St. Louis into modern-day Montana, turning west over the Rocky Mountains to the Columbia River. On the return journey the party divided to explore the Maria and Yellowstone rivers, reuniting at the juncture of the Yellowstone and Missouri Rivers to arrive home together. “The explorations revealed a strange and unknown world, full of exciting wonders, and pointed the way to its possibilities for future development” (Downs, Books that Changed America, 40). Bound without half title. Howes L317. Wagner-Camp 13:2. Graff 2480. Streeter 3128. Sabin 40829. See PMM 272; Church 1309. Engraved armorial bookplate (Sir William Young), with another smaller bookplate.

Only minor crease to large folding map near stub; text and maps clean and fine. Minor restoration to corners of contemporary calf. A very handsome fine copy of this important edition, most desirable in contemporary calf-gilt.