A Journal of the Voyages and Travels of a Corps of Discovery, under the Command of Capt. Lewis and Capt. Clarke... from the Mouth of the River Missouri through the Interior Parts of North America to the Pacific Ocean, during the Years 1804, 1805 & 1806. by LEWIS, Meriwether (1774-1809) and William CLARK (1770-1838); GASS, Patrick (1771-1870) - 1810

Philadelphia: Mathew Carey, 1810., 1810. 12mo (6 6/8 x 4 inches): engraved frontispiece (laid down, spotted and browned) and five further plates. Bound in modern ochre morocco backed cloth gilt. PROVENANCE: with the book plate of James S. Copley on the front paste-down of each volume, his sale Sotheby's 15th October 2010 lot 731. Second Carey, third American, and second illustrated edition. Mathew Carey issued two editions in 1810 after acquiring the copyright from David McKeehan. First published in 1807. The first full published account of the Corps of Discovery by a member of the expedition, Patrick Gass, who "became one of the best-known members of the expedition for several reasons: his key role as sergeant brought his name up frequently in the journals of Lewis and Clark; his account was the first to be published; he was the first to have a biography written about him; and finally, he outlived the other members of the Corps of Discovery by decades" (Wagner-Camp-Becker 6:1). "Although [Gass's Journal] lacked the insight, reflection, and depth of geographic, ethnographic, diplomatic, and scientific observations penned by Lewis and Clark, it and Jefferson's Message from the President were the only accounts available for seven years to describe the expedition's adventures" (Beckham, p. 89). "Sergeant Patrick Gass outlived every person who served on the Lewis and Clark expedition whose fate is known. Having lived so long, Gass is one of the best known of the expedition's enlisted men and has had more written about him than any other man in the Corps of Discovery, except for the two captains" (DANB). REFERENCES: Graff 1518; Howes G77; Smith 3467; Streeter sale V:3123; Wagner-Camp-Becker 6:5. Catalogued by Kate Hunter. Book.