JEDEDIAH SMITH AND HIS MAPS OF THE AMERICAN WEST. by Morgan, Dale L. and Carl I. Wheat - 1954

San Francisco: California Historical Society, 1954. A few scuffs to cloth, internally fine. Large folio (43 x 28 cm). [1-8] 1-86 [87-88 blank, 7 facsimile maps (6 folded) three in pocket at rear. Printed in red and black. Original red cloth. One of 530 copies printed by Lawton R. Kennedy. Includes the first publication of the "Frémont-Gibbs-Smith" map, the earliest record of Smith's explorations, found in 1953 by Wheat in the collections of the American Geographical Society. "The most respected and most widely traveled Western explorer of his era (1822-1831), Jedediah Strong Smith passed from the scene when only thirty-two years of age, and both the man and his extraordinary career were long largely forgotten. Today, however, Smith is accorded a place in American exploration overshadowed only by Lewis and Clark. As a single figure he stands second to none; as a cartographer his achievements were unequaled for almost a generation" (prospectus).

San Francisco: California Historical Society, 1954. First Edition. 86pp. Folio [44 cm] Red cloth with the title gilt stamped on the backstrip. Near fine. Complete with all seven maps. The four page prospectus is laid in. This volume was the logical extension of Morgan's biography of Jedediah Smith. Morgan and Wheat examined the notes taken by Oregon pioneer George Gibbs from a now-lost map of the trapper's western travels drawn by Smith in 1831, before the latter's demise on the Santa Fe Trail. Also considered is a letter concerning western flora, rediscovered after publication of 'Opening of the West,' belatedly adding botany to the litany of Smith's contributions towards a factual understanding of the American West. Saunders 26.