The Alaska Boundary.

4to, modern half green levant morocco & cloth, spine lettered in gilt, Illustrated with 2 folding maps; frontispiece portrait from a photograph of the author, 235 pp. Maps with neatly repaired stub tears just intruding into images, slight aging; else fine in attractive modern binding. George Davidson (1825- 1911) was a surveyor, geodesist, and astronomer and was born in Nottingham, England. His family emigrated to Philadelphia when he was seven. In 1843 Davidson joined the U.S. Coast Survey. "He then spent several years in the South, learning field surveying on the job. In 1850, soon after the United States took over California from Mexico, Davidson was put in charge of the survey on the West Coast. Charts were badly needed, and he mapped harbors, headlands, and points all along the coast, from San Diego north to the Columbia River. The field work involved many hardships, which included frequent landings in small boats through the surf." This is a presentation copy inscribed and signed by Davidson on the title page: "Mr. J. Sutton with the respects of George Davidson San Francisco April 9/04." An historical elucidation relative to the controversy between Canada and the U.S. over the Alaska boundary, which was resolved in 1903. George Davidson was considered an important figure in the charting of the west coast and Alaskan waters. The work includes maps of he Southern Part of Portland Canal, Alaska, and the North West Coast of America, Dixon Entrance to Cape St. Elias. ANB. Howes D88.