A Journal of the Voyages and Travels of a Corps of Discovery

London: J.Budd, 1808, octavo, 381 pages, 2 pages advertising present, 8 1/16 x 5 inches, full contemporary calf with covers fine bordered in blind, spine in six compartments with raised bands, the bands highlighted with gilt roll and flanked with a dark band, lettered with gilt in second compartment the others with repeat decoration in blind, marbled endpapers. Provenance: Sir Thomas Munro, 1th Baronet, General, Governor of Madras (armorial bookplate) The first English edition ( after the first American edition of 1807) with the first account of the Lewis and Clark expedition from St. Louis to the western (pacific) ocean. Because of the delay of the publication of the official account, Gass's journal was first to appear and as such was eagerly taken up by readers starved for information about Lewis and Clark's important expedition. Gass's London journal was printed on much better paper stock and larger format than the American edition, making this edition much more fine and durable. Patrick Gass was a rough but very reliable frontier and his account, although written in simple and true language, is one of the jewels of early Americana. The book was the first publicly available source of information of the western expanse of the United States.