Personal Narrative of Explorations and Incidents in Texas, New Mexico, California, Sonora, and Chihuahua; Connected with the United States and Mexican Boundary Commission during the years 1850, '51, '52, and '53

New York: D. Appleton & Company, 1854. First Edition. Very Good. In two volumes, 8vo [8.75x5.75in]; Vol. I - xxii, fold out map [General Map | Showing the Countries Explored & Surveyed | by the United States & Mexican | Boundary Commission | in the years 1850, 51, 52, & 53 | Under the direction of | John R. Bartlett | U.S. Commissioner], 506 pp., fold out lithograph Frontispiece of Fort Yuma, 29 woodcuts in text and 3 on plates and 6 plates tinted lithograph illustrations, Vol. II, xvii, 624 pp., fold out Lithograph Frontispiece of Ruins at Casas Grandes, 33 woodcuts in text and 26 on plates and 10 plates tinted lithograph illustrations [includes Tucson plate not listed] , appendices and index; Later binding of tan half calf-backed marbled covers with raised ribbed gilt lettered and decorative spine, marbled end papers [appears to have been rebound in early 1900's by the Rose Bindery, Boston], [also appears to have a second rebinding with replaced marbled covers, end papers, and possible text block washing/repairs within last 50 years], top edge gilt, fore edge untrimmed; Minor shelf wear to edges and leather, prior owner archival repairs and restorations to closed tears, chips and reset page tears (with a few minor alignment and loss of text) on a number of pages in both volumes with some offset staining to other pages, occasional small closed tears along edges, occasional light age toning of pages with some spotting, light soiling and spots to folding map closed tear repaired, lacks advertisements. [Cowan64 p.36, Wagner-Camp 234:1, Howes B201, Graff 198, Hill 74, Wheat Gold Regions Maps 252, Wheat Trans-Miss 798]. John Russell Bartlett (1805-1886), a historian and linguist, was appointed to oversee the United States and Mexican Boundary Commission to survey and establish the current boundary between the United States and Mexico in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo and expanded with the Gadsden Purchase. The survey also determined the route of a southern railroad. Bartlett was also an artist and made illustrations of the southwest landscape. From Wagner-Camp, "... Bartlett was a talented artist, observer, and reporter, who contributed greatly to the knowledge of the geography and topography of the Southwest in his Personal Narrative. During three years with the Mexican Boundary Commission, he traveled widely from central Texas to the Pacific Ocean, and from Mazatlan to San Francisco. A contentious man, and lacking perhaps certain administrative skills, Bartlett succeeded in antagonizing most of his fellow-official on the Commission. Graff points out that "a number of incidents described by Bartlett have been differently interpreted by his associates.