Journal of a Military Reconnaissance, from Santa Fe, New Mexico, to the Navajo Country.. by SIMPSON, James H. (1813-1883) - 1852

Philadelphia: Lippincott, Grambo and Co, 1852. 8vo. (8 7/8 x 5 1/2 inches). 140, [28] pp. Large folding map and seventy-five plates lithographed by Duval after R. H. Kern (including many printed in colour and hand-finished) [numbered 1-75, without plates numbered 2, 21 or 39 and with plates 66*, and 67* and 67**, complete thus, as issued]. Publisher's ads in the rear. Minor dampstain. Publisher's brown cloth, covers stamped in blind, spine gilt A cornerstone on the exploration of the southwest, with important color plates of Indians from the region. "One of the most accurate and complete of all narratives of exploration of the country of the Zuni and Pueblo Indians" (Field). Wheat praises the map as "An arresting production bringing out many new details of the region directly west of New Mexico." Simpson was the first explorer to visit and describe Chaco Canyon, Canyon de Chelly, Pueblo Bonita, Inscription Rock, and other sites in northern Arizona. As William Goetzmann notes, the work is "a major Southwestern archaeological endeavor" and "no serious student can afford to neglect Simpson's report even in the present day." The plates, handsomely illustrating Navajo costumes, artifacts and sites, make this an important American color plate book. Deak cites the well known view of Santa Fe by Richard Kern. Also included is a comparative vocabulary of the Pueblo language of the "wild tribes" of the borders of New Mexico. Bennett, p.98; Deak, Picturing America 590; Field 1413; Graff 3789; Howes S498, "aa."; Wagner-Camp 218; Palau 31488; Pilling, Proof-sheets 3608; Wheat Transmississippi 641; Reese, Stamped With A National Character 29.