WONDERS OF THE YELLOWSTONE New Edition with Maps and Illustrations

New York: Scribner, Armstrong & Co.. Very Good+. 1874. Hardcover. The Illustrated Library of Travel, Exploration and Adventure; xii, (2), 256, (8) ads pages; A very nice example of this fascinating account of the author's exploration of the Yellowstone region. Former owner's brief inscription on first blank after endpapers, otherwise contents clean, complete and secure in original reddish brown cloth binding with decorative stamping and lettering in gilt and black, depicting a kettle over a campfire framed by saplings on front board; minor rubbing to spine ends; line of paper residue near top of endpaper. Both folding maps are present and in very good condition - Yellowstone Region and Prospective Railway Route" and "Yellowstone National Park." Frontispiece and additional b&w illustrations scattered throughout. OCLC 4074765 In 1872, Yellowstone was declared the first national park created in the U.S. This edition appeared one year after the 1873 first edition of Richardson's book with the extended title - Wonders of the Yellowstone Region in the Rocky Mountains, Being a Description of its Geysers, Hot-Springs, Grand Cañon, Waterfalls, Lake, and Surrounding Scenery, Explored in 1870-71. Richardson's travel narrative offers a vivid and detailed account of the natural wonders of the Yellowstone region drawing extensively from the voluminous official reports of the Hayden Expedition. With a focus on the geologic history of the area and the unique features that make it a geological treasure, the work offers a compelling and engaging narrative of exploration and adventure. From the preface: "The following description of the marvellous features and phenomena of the Yellowstone Lake Region in the Rocky Mountains begins close to its northern border, at the frontier military post of Fort Ellis. . . The entire area, hemmed in by the loftiest peaks of the Rocky Mountains, is over 6,000 feet above sea-level, and the Yellowstone Lake, which occupies an area of 15 by 22 miles, has an elevation of 7,427 feet. The whole region is of Pliocene age, and bears unequivocal traces of its having been the scene of prolonged and energetic volcanic activity." From Lieutenant Doane's description: "Its yellow walls divide the landscape nearly in a straight line. The ragged edges of the chasm are from two hundred to five hundred yards apart, its depths so profound that the river bed is nowhere visible. No sound reaches the ear from the bottom of the abyss; the sun's rays are reflected on tho further wall, and then lost in the darkness below. The mind struggles and then falls back upon itself, despairing in the efforts to grasp by a single thought the idea of its immensity. Beyond, a gentle declivity, sloping from the summit of the broken range, extends to the limits of vision, a wilderness of unbroken pine forest." .