SIR ALEXANDER MACKENZIE (1763/4-1820) Voyages from Montreal, on the River St. Laurence, through the Continent of North America, to the Frozen and Pacific Oceans; in the Years 1789 and 1793. With a preliminary account of the .... Fur Trade of that Country . London: R. Noble for T. Cadell jun., and W. Davies, Cobbett and Morgan, and W. Creech, 1801. 4° (271 x 214mm). Engraved portrait frontispiece by P. Condé after T. Lawrence and 3 engraved folding maps, one hand-coloured in outline. Half-title and errata leaf. (Variable light browning and spotting, small paper flaw on title, some leaves guarded in and/or cockled, maps with light offsetting and neatly-reinforced tears.) Contemporary speckled calf, gilt leather lettering-piece on spine (a little rubbed, neat repairs to corners, rebacked retaining original lettering-piece). Provenance : P. Sandwell, Vancouver 1960 (inscription on half-title). FIRST EDITION. 'FINEST EDITION OF THE EARLIEST EXPEDITION MADE BY A WHITE MAN IN THIS DIRECTION' (Sabin). Mackenzie set out from Fort Chippewayan on 3 June 1789, accompanied by Canadians and Indians in birchbark canoes, to explore the uncharted north-west region with a view to discovering a practicable North-West passage. He descended the eponymous Mackenzie River to the Arctic Sea, demonstrating that, while navigable, it was not a commercially viable passage. This made finding a transcontinental passage even more important for British trade, and, in his second and more arduous expedition in 1792-3, Mackenzie set out to reach the Pacific Ocean. He was successful and became the first white man to cross the Rocky (then Chippewayan) Mountains, arriving at the Pacific near Cape Menzies. Mackenzie's discoveries were not only hugely beneficial to British trade in North America, but formed the basis for later Arctic exploration: '[his] investigations, although pursued at so early a period of Arctic exploration, are remarkable for their accuracy; Sir John Franklin more than once expressed his surprise at being able to corroborate their correctness in his own explorations several decades later. This is [...] one of the most important of Canadian books' (Hill). Mackenzie's detailed history of the fur trade opens the volume, and it also contains a limited dictionary of useful words in Knisteneo and Algonquin, and examples of Chippewayan. Brunet III, cols 1280-1281; Cox II, pp. 177-178; Hill 1063; Howes M-133; Lowndes p. 1439; Sabin 43414; Wagner-Camp 1.
SIR ALEXANDER MACKENZIE (1763/4-1820) Voyages from Montreal, on the River St. Laurence, through the Continent of North America, to the Frozen and Pacific Oceans; in the Years 1789 and 1793. With a preliminary account of the .... Fur Trade of that Country . London: R. Noble for T. Cadell jun., and W. Davies, Cobbett and Morgan, and W. Creech, 1801. 4° (271 x 214mm). Engraved portrait frontispiece by P. Condé after T. Lawrence and 3 engraved folding maps, one hand-coloured in outline. Half-title and errata leaf. (Variable light browning and spotting, small paper flaw on title, some leaves guarded in and/or cockled, maps with light offsetting and neatly-reinforced tears.) Contemporary speckled calf, gilt leather lettering-piece on spine (a little rubbed, neat repairs to corners, rebacked retaining original lettering-piece). Provenance : P. Sandwell, Vancouver 1960 (inscription on half-title). FIRST EDITION. 'FINEST EDITION OF THE EARLIEST EXPEDITION MADE BY A WHITE MAN IN THIS DIRECTION' (Sabin). Mackenzie set out from Fort Chippewayan on 3 June 1789, accompanied by Canadians and Indians in birchbark canoes, to explore the uncharted north-west region with a view to discovering a practicable North-West passage. He descended the eponymous Mackenzie River to the Arctic Sea, demonstrating that, while navigable, it was not a commercially viable passage. This made finding a transcontinental passage even more important for British trade, and, in his second and more arduous expedition in 1792-3, Mackenzie set out to reach the Pacific Ocean. He was successful and became the first white man to cross the Rocky (then Chippewayan) Mountains, arriving at the Pacific near Cape Menzies. Mackenzie's discoveries were not only hugely beneficial to British trade in North America, but formed the basis for later Arctic exploration: '[his] investigations, although pursued at so early a period of Arctic exploration, are remarkable for their accuracy; Sir John Franklin more than once expressed his surprise at being able to corroborate their correctness in his own explorations several decades later. This is [...] one of the most important of Canadian books' (Hill). Mackenzie's detailed history of the fur trade opens the volume, and it also contains a limited dictionary of useful words in Knisteneo and Algonquin, and examples of Chippewayan. Brunet III, cols 1280-1281; Cox II, pp. 177-178; Hill 1063; Howes M-133; Lowndes p. 1439; Sabin 43414; Wagner-Camp 1.
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
