NARRATIVE OF THE UNITED STATES EXPLORING EXPEDITION. DURING THE YEARS 1838, 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842

Philadelphia: Lea and Blanchard, 1845.. Five text volumes plus atlas volume. lx,434; xv,476; xv,438; xvi,539; xv,558pp., plus sixty-four engraved plates, nine double-page maps, numerous vignette illustrations. Atlas: five folding maps (one handcolored). Half title in each text volume. Imperial octavo. Original gilt cloth. Cloth worn at corners, spine ends, and along hinges. Early ownership signature on titlepage of each volume. Scattered foxing, occasional offsetting. Minor splits at cross-folds of maps in atlas volume, but with no loss. A very good set. This is the first regularly available trade edition of the narrative of the Wilkes expedition, preceded only by the extremely rare official edition and the further printing of 150 copies made for gifts. The Wilkes Expedition was the first United States scientific expedition by sea, working mainly in the Pacific Ocean. Wilkes sailed along the Antarctic continent and throughout the islands of the South Pacific, visited the Hawaiian Islands in 1840, and explored the northwest coast of America in 1841. The expedition was made up of a number of notable American scientists, and their botanical, natural history, and geological findings are included.

The United States Exploring Expedition "was the first American scientific expedition of any size, charged to 'extend the bounds of Science and promote the acquisition of knowledge,' and was one of the most ambitious Pacific expeditions ever attempted" (Forbes). "The chief fields of exploration in this expedition were the coast of the Antarctic continent, the islands of the Pacific Ocean, and the American northwest coast. In total some 280 islands in the Pacific and adjacent waters and 800 miles of streams and coasts in the Oregon country were surveyed, and 1,600 miles of the coast of Antarctica were charted. After leaving Hampton Roads in 1838, the expedition visited Madeira, the Cape Verde Islands, Brazil, Patagonia, the South Shetland Islands, Peter Island, Chile, and Peru, before proceeding to the Tuamotu or the low Archipelago, the Samoa Islands, and New South Wales. From Sydney, Wilkes sailed into the region now known as Wilkesland. He visited Tonga, the Fiji group, and the Hawaiian Islands in 1840, and in 1841 explored the west coast of North America. Much valuable information is given on the Columbia River, the Willamette Valley, Puget Sound, the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and the Sacramento Valley, and the findings on the northwest coast of America proved timely in light of the dispute with Great Britain over the Oregon Territory. The Wilkes expedition also visited San Francisco bay and the Sacramento River. Crossing the Pacific, Wilkes called at the Philippine Islands, the Sulu Archipelago, Borneo, Singapore, and, rounding the Cape of Good Hope, finally reached New York in 1842, having sailed round the world" - Hill. HOWES W414, "aa." STREETER SALE 3324. TWENEY 89, 83. HILL 1867. TAXONOMIC LITERATURE 17646. HASKELL 2B. SABIN 103994. FORBES 1574. ROSOVE ANTARCTIC 353. FERGUSON 4209. COWAN, p.683. REESE, BEST OF THE WEST 85.