WILKES, Charles
Narrative of the United States Exploring Expedition. During the years 1838, 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842.
The United States equivalent to the voyages of James Cook
Publication details:
Philadelphia, Lea and Blanchard, 1845.
Information:
6 volumes. 5 large octavo text volumes (280 by 178mm), and one large octavo atlas volume (280 x 178mm). Text: halftitles; engraved frontispiece portrait of Wilkes, 9 folding maps, 63 engraved plates, and numerous engravings and vignettes throughout. Atlas: five large folding lithographed maps, the ‘Chart of the World’ with contemporary hand-colour; publisher’s original brown cloth, gilt.
Lterature:
Cohen, 120-122;
Cowan, (volume I) 248-249n,
(volume II) 683; Forbes, 1573; Hill, 1866;
Howes, W414; Mathes; Rosove, 353;
Streeter, 3324.
Provenance:
With the leather library label of Martin Sharpe on the inside front cover
of each volume.
Notes:
The third overall edition, one of 1,000 examples printed, and preceded only by two very rare quarto editions published in 1844 (100 examples of which 63 were given to foreign nations and 25 destroyed by fire) and 1845 (150 examples).
Charles Wilkes’s (1798-1877) celebrated circumnavigation explored extensively the coast of South America, the South Seas, Antarctica, California and the Northwest. Departing in August 1838, Wilkes rounded Cape Horn; crossed the Pacific surveying, charting, and exploring the Tuamotus, Tahiti, and Samoa; and reached Sydney, Australia, in November 1839. His ships probed Antarctic waters, cruising 1,500 miles along an unbroken ice shelf; then sailed via New Zealand and Tonga, reaching Fiji in May 1840.
In September 1840 Wilkes reached Hawaii, and arrived off the Oregon coast in April 1841, “Wilkes found the mouth of the Columbia a difficult and dangerous harbor. He recommended emphatically in his reports that Puget Sound and the Straits of Juan de Fuca be retained in the ongoing border negotiations between the United States and Britain. In California, describing the potential for a large commercial harbor in San Francisco Bay, he emphasized the lack of Mexican government control of the area. The expedition left San Francisco on 1 November 1841, crossing the Pacific again via Hawaii, Manila, and Singapore to Cape Town. Charting, surveying, and scientific studies were conducted along the route. The voyage ended in New York in June 1842” (Sprague for ANB).
A full collation is available on request.
