PBA Galleries

[6], x, 479 pp. With folding engraved map & folding engraved plate. (8vo) 20x12 cm (8x4¾"), later half cloth & mottled boards, spine ruled & lettered in gilt. First Edition, Paris issue.

Important account of travels in the Louisiana Territory in the final years of French suzerainty, venturing up the Missouri River in quest of furs, and encountering numerous Indian tribes. The map, "Carte du Missouri Levée ou Rectifiée dans route son Etendue. Par Fois. Perrin du Lac l'An 1802," is the earliest printed map to show accurately the upper Missouri. The plate show the skeleton of a mammoth. There were both Lyon and Paris issues; while the Lyon issue is thought to have priority, judging from the number of copies of the two issues that have appeared at auction, the Paris issue is apparently much scarcer. The Lyon issue had the map and plate printed in blue paper; the present issue has them printed on paper with a light bluish-green tint, thick and of high quality, the engraving quite fine.

Provenance: Reese, 5/87. Covers reattached, new endpapers, by Sandra Good, 4/15/05. Bookplate of J.C. MacCoy.

References: Howes P-244. W-C 3:2. CS-G 3254 (Lyon issue). Sabin 61012. W-TW 256 for map. Nasiter, Before Lewis and Clark.