Beschreibung:

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, 1st English edition, Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, 1814, large folding engraved map (minor offsetting), five further maps on three sheets (some spotting and offsetting to facing pages, pp. 45, 193 & 377), eight pages publisher's advert leaves before half-title and adverts to final leaf verso, scattered minor spotting and soiling, short closed tear to foremargin of title and longer closed tears into text on leaves 3G1 & 3Q4, contemporary ownership signature of Andrew Moore to title, uncut, original drab board with printed paper spine label, rubbed and soiled, slight wear at head of spine and corners bruised, 4to (285 x 230mm) Field 929; Hill 1018; Howes L317; Sabin 40829; Wagner-Camp 13. A good, unsophisticated copy of the first English edition. First published in Philadelphia in two octavo volumes in the same year as the present edition, this is the first British and typographically superior first quarto edition of the 'definitive account of the most important exploration of the North American continent' (Wagner-Camp). Funded by Congress, this was effectively the first exploration officially sponsored by the Federal Government of the United States. The expedition set out from St Louis in May 1804 and covered some eight thousand miles across the continent over two and a half years, establishing a route to the mouth of the Columbia River across the Rocky Mountains. The celebrated large folding map is an accurate copy of Clark's manuscript and considered the best cartographic representation of the entire northwestern quadrant of what is now the United States. The publication of the official account of the expedition took nearly ten years and was beset by numerous setbacks including the tragic death in 1809 of Lewis by murder or suicide. Provenance: While handwriting comparison with letters held by the Library of Congress has been inconclusive the ownership signature may be that of Andrew Moore (1752-1821), an American lawyer and politician from Lexington, Virginia. In 1776, he was commissioned a 1st Lieutenant in the 9th Virginia Regiment and rose to the rank of Captain in the Continental Army, seeing action at Saratoga. After the war he was eventually commissioned a Major General in the Virginia militia in 1803. He was a delegate to the Virginia Convention that ratified the United States Constitution in 1788. He was a member of Virginia legislature 1789 -1791 and 1799-1800. He represented Virginia in both the US House (1789-97, 1804) and the US Senate (1804-1809). In 1810 he was appointed marshal of the district of Virginia, which office he held until his death. (1)