1807 – Lewis & Clark Exploration – Dunbar | First Edition – Native American Indians

The Lewis and Clark Expedition, the most famous Americana expansion voyage, was recorded in journals and printed for the public to know just how impressive this journey was.

In 1807, the Sibley and Dunbar reports of Lewis and Clark’s expedition was the first published instance of the now famous American exploration journey. Travels In The Interior Parts Of America, although shorter than the official Journal, includes extensive reports of Native American Indian tribes (see below), as well as correspondence concerning the expedition – most notably a letter from Thomas Jefferson! This work proved to be one of the earliest known works to describe the Louisiana Purchase including indigenous people, scientific observations, and meteorological phenomena.

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Travels in the interior parts of America; communicating discoveries made in exploring the Missouri, Red river, and Washita
• Author(s): Meriwether Lewis; William Dunbar
• Contributor(s): Thomas Jefferson (Contributor); John Sibley (Contributor); Dr. Hunter (Contributor)
• Publisher: London, Printed for R. Phillips by J.G. Barnard
• Edition: First edition, 1807.
• Binding: Leather binding with marbled boards
• Format: (8vo), single volume
• Size:  8.25 x 5.25 in (21 x 13 cm)
• Collation: 24, 17-116 pp
  • Collation is correct – not lacking any pages
• Illustrations: folding table retained
• Contents Include:
  • Extensive lists and description of Native American Indian tribes including:
    • Caddoques, Yattassees, Carankouas, Tankaways, Comanches, Natchitoches, Appalaches, Choctaws, Arkansas, and dozens of others
  • Jefferson’s message to Congress
  • Lewis letter from Fort Mandan (1805)
• Reference(s): Howes L 319. Sabin 40826; Field 926; curiously not in Graff
  • Howes – “The Sibley-Dunbar descriptions of the Texas-Louisiana frontier gave the first formal and satisfactory picture of the southern portion of the Louisiana Purchase”
  • Field – “This work is nearly an exact copy of the original government publication of Lewis and Clarke’s report of their expedition.”

Condition:

Near Fine. Professionally rebound leather binding with marbled boards; structure tight and secure with gilt title on spine. Pages generally clean with light age toning to margins. Folding table retained and intact.

Why Collect This?

• Earliest edition documenting the exploration of the Louisiana Purchase
• First edition recounting the voyages of Lewis and Clark
• Extensive reports of Native American tribes
• Beautiful, modern leather binding

Item Number: #50215