[LEWIS, MERIWETHER & CLARK, WILLIAM]

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, New York, J. Maxwell, Printer, 1814. First edition, lacking the folding map. Two volumes, period brown American sheep housed in a morocco-backed slipcase with chemises, rebacked and recased. 8 1/4 x 5 inches (21.5 x 13 cm); xxviii, 470 pp.; ix, 522 pp., with 5 maps inserted into the text; a facsimile of the large folding map A map of Lewis and Clark's track, across the western portion of North America from the Mississippi to the Pacific Ocean is tipped-in opposite the title. Rebacked as noted, volume I is lacking the front free endpaper. Leaf Y4 is lacking in the first volume (pp. 167-8), in addition to the folding map (which was not included in many copies). The text and other maps are generally clean but with some foxing and toning, as usual; some minor staining. A few leaves have some tears. Bookplate of the Rt. Eev. Nathaniel S. Thomas, second bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Wyomimg.

The cornerstone of any collection of Western Americana, the first edition of Lewis & Clark's Expedition is "the definitive account of the most important exploration of the North American Continent" (Wagner-Camp), and it is the prototype of the western overland narrative. The expedition was funded by Congress after the Louisiana Purchase so that trading alliances could be formed with Native Americans. However, the single greatest benefit of the expedition, which departed from St. Louis in 1804 and was returned in 1806 after having reached the Pacific Ocean, was the extensive knowledge gained about the topography of the western portion of the continent.

The publication of this work was delayed for several years as both Lewis and Clark received commissions in the Louisiana Territory. Lewis was named Territorial Governor and Clark Superintendent of Indian Affairs. In 1809, Thomas Jefferson, president at the time of the expedition, urged that the work be completed but Lewis died somewhat mysteriously on his journey to Washington. In tribute, Jefferson wrote the Life of Captain Lewis which appears at the beginning of the first volume. Clark employed the editor Nicholas Biddle to help edit the unfinished work, which he succeeded in doing by 1811, but as he had secured a seat in the legislature he could not oversee its printing and the project was completed by Paul Allen, whose name appears on the title pages. According to Church, of the 2,000 copies printed at least 583 were lost or destroyed, and not all copies were issued with the large folding map. Church 1309; Field 928; Graff 2477; Grolier/American 30; PMM 272; Streeter Sale 3:1777; Wagner-Camp 13:1; Howes L317; Sabin 40828.