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

Philadelphia: Lea & Blanchard, 1845.. Six volumes bound in five, with the atlas bound into the fifth volume. Portrait, sixty- four plates, and nine maps in the text, and five colored folding maps in the sixth (atlas) volume. Numerous vignettes in the text. With four pages of manuscript material and two smaller printed reports laid in. Quarto. Contemporary three-quarter red morocco and cloth boards, gilt tooled, t.e.g. Hinges and boards slightly rubbed and with minor patches of dampstaining on cloth. Small modern bookplates on front pastedowns. Light foxing, light tanning and slight offsetting to atlas maps. A handsome, very good set. First unofficial edition of the formal narrative of the first American naval exploring expedition: one of only 150 copies printed (only 100 of which were for sale) of this issue of this edition, and rare. Altogether 250 copies of the formal narrative were printed, 100 of them ordered by Congress for official presentation and 150 copies (of which this set is one) that Wilkes had printed "for the purpose of presentation to my friends and for sale to those who should desire a book of that size." Ultimately, Wilkes retained for presentation twenty-five copies; a further twenty-five were used to replace copies of the "official" issue destroyed by fire; the remainder were available for sale. Haskell, the bibliographer of the Wilkes expedition, notes an advertisement for copies of this issue that appeared in one of the subsequent editions, noting that "the Publishers have for sale for Sixty Dollars, in cloth, a few copies of the edition in large Quarto, printed for distribution by Order of Congress. Only one hundred and twenty-five of the two hundred and fifty copies printed have been offered to the public."

Accordingly, it is very rare today, while the original official issue (almost exclusively used for presentation to states and to foreign governments) is virtually never seen on the market: "virtually all copies are in institutional libraries" (Rosove). This unofficial issue differs from the official issue in only a couple minor points: here the half title does not have the third line, "By authority of Congress"; and the verso of the titlepage adds the imprint of "C. Sherman, Printer," with his Philadelphia address. The titlepages are dated 1845, while the official version, although not issued until 1845, was dated 1844.

The importance of the Wilkes Expedition, the first United States scientific expedition by sea, cannot be overstated. Wilkes' six ships ranged from Tierra del Fuego, Chile, and Peru, to Samoa, Fiji, Tahiti, Hawaii, Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, and Singapore. Two of the expedition's most notable achievements were the extensive survey of the American northwest coast and the exploration of some 1,500 miles of the Antarctic coast, "thereby proving the existence of the seventh continent. Equally important, the Expedition collected and described natural history specimens from all parts of the globe - specimens that eventually came to the fledgling Smithsonian Institution, making it the National Museum of the United States. In a wider sense, the Expedition led to the emergence of the United States as a naval and scientific power with worldwide interests" (MAGNIFICENT VOYAGERS, p.9). HILL 1866 (ref). HOWES W414, "b." HASKELL 2A. ROSOVE 353.A2. SPENCE 1262. TWENEY, WASHINGTON 83. REESE, BEST OF THE WEST 85.