TRAVELS THROUGH THE INTERIOR PARTS OF NORTH AMERICA, IN THE YEARS 1766, 1767, AND 1768..

London, 1781. [4],22,[18],543,[21]pp. plus four (of six) plates, one added plate, (three colored) and two partially colored folding maps. This copy lacks the frontispiece of Carver and has a portrait of Alexander Mackenzie instead; and lacks the plate of Indian pipe opposite p.296. Modern three-quarter calf and marbled boards, t.e.g. Occasional light foxing or age toning. Contemporary ink notes above title on titlepage. Else very good and clean. A classic of American travel, in the third and best edition, with expanded text, a biographical sketch of the author, an index, and the added plate of the tobacco plant not found in the first two editions. Carver travelled farther west than any Englishman before the Revolution, going as far as the Dakotas, exploring the headwaters of the Mississippi, and passing over the Great Lakes. The text contains the first published mention of the word "Oregon." The author comments on the Indians he encountered, as well as offering observations on natural history. The tobacco plant plate is handsomely colored. An important source book and stimulus for later explorers, especially Mackenzie and Lewis and Clark. This is the second issue, according to Howes, with the index. HOWES C215, "b." FIELD 251. SABIN 11184. VAIL 670. GREENLY, MICHIGAN 21. REESE, BEST OF THE WEST 13. REESE & OSBORN, STRUGGLE FOR NORTH AMERICA 88.