Account of Expeditions to the Sources of the Mississippi.
Item #46065
PIKE, Zebulon M. An Account of Expeditions to the Sources of the Mississippi, and Through the Western Parts of Louisiana, to the Sources of the Arkansaw, Kans, La Platte, and Pierre Jaun, Rivers...During the Years 1805, 1806, AND 1807. And a Tour through the Interior Parts of New Spain...In the Year 1807. Philadelphia: Published by C. & A. Conrad, & Co..., 1810. [8],105,[11],[107]-277,[5],65,[1],53,[1],87pp. plus six maps (five folding) and three folding charts. Frontispiece portrait. Modern paneled calf, maroon gilt morocco label, raised bands. Contemporary ownership signature at head of titlepage, dampstaining to frontispiece and titlepage, moderate foxing throughout, maps reinforced, repairs to folding tables. Contemporary maroon gilt morocco label pasted to rear flyleaf. Good. HOWES P373, "b." WAGNER-CAMP 9:1. STREETER SALE 3125. WHEAT TRANSMISSISSIPPI 297,298,299. GRAFF 3290. FIELD 1217. STREETER TEXAS 1047C. HILL, p.236. BRADFORD 4415. RITTENHOUSE 467. SABIN 62936. JONES 743. BRAISLIN 1474. The report of the first United States government expedition to the Southwest, and one of the most important of all American travel narratives, including an account of Pike's travels to explore the headwaters of the Arkansas and Red rivers, his earlier journey to explore the sources of the Mississippi River, and his visit to the Spanish settlements in New Mexico. He and his team traveled up the Arkansas River to the site of what is now Pueblo, Colorado, exploring the area and the peak that bears his name. At the Rio Grande they were captured by the Spanish, who took them to Santa Fe and then to Chihuahua before finally releasing them at the border of the Louisiana Territory. Pike's narrative stands with those of Long and of Lewis and Clark as the most important of early books on western exploration and as a cornerstone of Western Americana. The maps were the first to exhibit a geographic knowledge of the Southwest based on first-hand exploration and are considered "milestones in the mapping of the American West" - Wheat. "The description of Texas is excellent" - Streeter.
Price: $25,000.00