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JAMES, Edwin (1797-1861), compiler. Account of an Expedition from Pittsburgh to the Rocky Mountains, Performed in the Years 1819 and '20, by Order of the Hon. J.C. Calhoun, Sec'y of War: Under the Command of Major Stephen H. Long. Philadelphia: H.C. Carey and I. Lea, 1822-1823.
3 volumes: comprising 2 volumes text, 8o (219 x 135 mm) and atlas 2o (293 x 231 mm). Atlas with 2 double-page maps after S.H. Long by Young & Delleker, 8 plates (one hand-colored) after S. Seymour (6) and T.R. Peale (1) by C.G. Childs, Lawson, F. Kearney, W. Hay, Young & Delleker, and one double-page plate of geological cross sections (some spotting). (Atlas title with upper right corner renewed, some spotting to text.) Text bound in contemporary mottled calf (rebacked preserving original spines), atlas in contemporary half calf, marbled boards (rebacked). Provenance: John M. Sigourney, Watertown (contemporary ownership inscriptions in pencil); Franklin Library, Watertown (bookplate).
A CORNERSTONE IN THE EXPOLORATION OF THE GREAT PLAINS
FIRST EDITION. The Long Expedition was the third major American exploration into the trans-Mississippi West, following Lewis and Clark, and Pike. The expedition traversed the Great Plains from the Missouri River to the Rocky Mountains across Kansas and Colorado. It was the first expedition accompanied by artists, and the illustrations in the atlas thus form an important early visual record. The maps are the first to detail the mapping of the Central Plains.
On the map, the designation "Great American Desert" appears east of the single range of the Rocky Mountains where it is said that "The Great American Desert is frequented by roving bands of Indians who have no fixed places of residence but roam from place to place in quest of game." Long here founded the "Great American Desert" myth which was perpetuated for decades. Bradford 2637; Graff 2188; Howes J-41; Pilling Proof-sheets 1958; Sabin 35682; Streeter sale III:1783; Wagner-Camp-Becker 25:1; Wheat Mapping the Transmississippi West 353, and II, p.80. (3)
3 volumes: comprising 2 volumes text, 8
A CORNERSTONE IN THE EXPOLORATION OF THE GREAT PLAINS
FIRST EDITION. The Long Expedition was the third major American exploration into the trans-Mississippi West, following Lewis and Clark, and Pike. The expedition traversed the Great Plains from the Missouri River to the Rocky Mountains across Kansas and Colorado. It was the first expedition accompanied by artists, and the illustrations in the atlas thus form an important early visual record. The maps are the first to detail the mapping of the Central Plains.
On the map, the designation "Great American Desert" appears east of the single range of the Rocky Mountains where it is said that "The Great American Desert is frequented by roving bands of Indians who have no fixed places of residence but roam from place to place in quest of game." Long here founded the "Great American Desert" myth which was perpetuated for decades. Bradford 2637; Graff 2188; Howes J-41; Pilling Proof-sheets 1958; Sabin 35682; Streeter sale III:1783; Wagner-Camp-Becker 25:1; Wheat Mapping the Transmississippi West 353, and II, p.80. (3)