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Auction archive: Lot number 214

LEONARD, Zenas (1809-1857). Narrative of the Adventures of Zenas Leonard, a Native of Clearfield County, PA. Who Spent Five Years in Trapping for Furs, Trading with the Indians, &c., &c., of the Rocky Mountains . Clearfield, Penn.: D.W. Moore, 1839.

Auction 21.06.2005
21 Jun 2005
Estimate
US$40,000 - US$60,000
Price realised:
US$50,400
Auction archive: Lot number 214

LEONARD, Zenas (1809-1857). Narrative of the Adventures of Zenas Leonard, a Native of Clearfield County, PA. Who Spent Five Years in Trapping for Furs, Trading with the Indians, &c., &c., of the Rocky Mountains . Clearfield, Penn.: D.W. Moore, 1839.

Auction 21.06.2005
21 Jun 2005
Estimate
US$40,000 - US$60,000
Price realised:
US$50,400
Beschreibung:

LEONARD, Zenas (1809-1857). Narrative of the Adventures of Zenas Leonard, a Native of Clearfield County, PA. Who Spent Five Years in Trapping for Furs, Trading with the Indians, &c., &c., of the Rocky Mountains . Clearfield, Penn.: D.W. Moore, 1839. 8 o (230 x 150 mm). (A few marginal repairs, one on 6/1 with loss of a few letters.) Green morocco, top edge gilt, by Zaehnsdorf; blue cloth slipcase. Provenance : Carolands (bookplate); Irving W. Robbins, Jr. (bookplate laid in, his sale Pacific, 21 March 1996, lot 195). "ABSENT FOUR YEARS, FOUR MONTHS, AND FIVE DAYS" (--Zenas Leonard, p. 87) FIRST EDITION OF LEONARD'S CLASSIC ACCOUNT OF WESTERN TRAVEL, the "cornerstone of any collection of western travels" (Howell). Zenas Leonard became a clerk in the fur trading firm of Gantt and Blackwell in 1831 and set out for the Rocky Mountains. The trading firm dissolved, but Leonard remained in the Rockies as a free trapper until the summer rendezvous of 1833 on the Green River. He then joined the party of Captain Bonneville and, under the leadership of Joseph Reddford Walker, made the historic journey across the Great Basin and the Sierra Nevada to California. Leonard remained in association with Bonneville, returning with him to Independence in August 1835. Both Leonard and Bonneville wrote accounts of the Walker expedition to California, though Bonneville's differs from Leonard's in that Bonneville did not accompany the party. His attitude about the expedition was also at variance with Leonard's, as Bonneville was incensed by the failure to find and bring back quantities of furs. Leonard's narrative was very well received when portions of it were published in the Clearfield Pioneer & Banner in 1835-1836. The newspaper's publisher was induced to produce this separate, complete edition. The publisher's preface notes that "Our author kept a minute journal of every incident that occurred, but unfortunately, a part of his narrative was stolen from him by hostile Indians; still, however, he was enabled to replace the most important events, by having access to the jounral kept by the commander of the expedition. His character for candour and truth, among his acquaintances, we have never heard suspected... At all events, in its perusal, the reader will encounter no improbabilities , much less impossibilities :--hence it is but reasonable to suppose that in traversing such a wilderness as lays west of the Rocky Mountains, such hardships, privations and dangers as those described by Mr. Leonard, must necessarily be encountered" (p. iv). Cowan p. 389; Eberstadt 124:1; Farquhar Yosemite 1; Graff 2461; Howell Crocker catalogue 150; Howes L-264 ("dd"); Jones 1025; Littell sale 639; Rader 2217; Streeter VI:3141; Wagner-Camp-Becker 75; Zamorano 80 , 50. SCARCE.

Auction archive: Lot number 214
Auction:
Datum:
21 Jun 2005
Auction house:
Christie's
New York, Rockefeller Center
Beschreibung:

LEONARD, Zenas (1809-1857). Narrative of the Adventures of Zenas Leonard, a Native of Clearfield County, PA. Who Spent Five Years in Trapping for Furs, Trading with the Indians, &c., &c., of the Rocky Mountains . Clearfield, Penn.: D.W. Moore, 1839. 8 o (230 x 150 mm). (A few marginal repairs, one on 6/1 with loss of a few letters.) Green morocco, top edge gilt, by Zaehnsdorf; blue cloth slipcase. Provenance : Carolands (bookplate); Irving W. Robbins, Jr. (bookplate laid in, his sale Pacific, 21 March 1996, lot 195). "ABSENT FOUR YEARS, FOUR MONTHS, AND FIVE DAYS" (--Zenas Leonard, p. 87) FIRST EDITION OF LEONARD'S CLASSIC ACCOUNT OF WESTERN TRAVEL, the "cornerstone of any collection of western travels" (Howell). Zenas Leonard became a clerk in the fur trading firm of Gantt and Blackwell in 1831 and set out for the Rocky Mountains. The trading firm dissolved, but Leonard remained in the Rockies as a free trapper until the summer rendezvous of 1833 on the Green River. He then joined the party of Captain Bonneville and, under the leadership of Joseph Reddford Walker, made the historic journey across the Great Basin and the Sierra Nevada to California. Leonard remained in association with Bonneville, returning with him to Independence in August 1835. Both Leonard and Bonneville wrote accounts of the Walker expedition to California, though Bonneville's differs from Leonard's in that Bonneville did not accompany the party. His attitude about the expedition was also at variance with Leonard's, as Bonneville was incensed by the failure to find and bring back quantities of furs. Leonard's narrative was very well received when portions of it were published in the Clearfield Pioneer & Banner in 1835-1836. The newspaper's publisher was induced to produce this separate, complete edition. The publisher's preface notes that "Our author kept a minute journal of every incident that occurred, but unfortunately, a part of his narrative was stolen from him by hostile Indians; still, however, he was enabled to replace the most important events, by having access to the jounral kept by the commander of the expedition. His character for candour and truth, among his acquaintances, we have never heard suspected... At all events, in its perusal, the reader will encounter no improbabilities , much less impossibilities :--hence it is but reasonable to suppose that in traversing such a wilderness as lays west of the Rocky Mountains, such hardships, privations and dangers as those described by Mr. Leonard, must necessarily be encountered" (p. iv). Cowan p. 389; Eberstadt 124:1; Farquhar Yosemite 1; Graff 2461; Howell Crocker catalogue 150; Howes L-264 ("dd"); Jones 1025; Littell sale 639; Rader 2217; Streeter VI:3141; Wagner-Camp-Becker 75; Zamorano 80 , 50. SCARCE.

Auction archive: Lot number 214
Auction:
Datum:
21 Jun 2005
Auction house:
Christie's
New York, Rockefeller Center
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