Travels through the Interior Parts of North America, in the Years 1766, 1767, and 1768. Illustrated With Copper Plates.
London. Printed for the Author by William Richardson. Sold by J. Dodsley. 1779. 8vo., 20.8cm, Second Edition, xvi,(17)-543p., two engraved folding maps, five engraved plates, bound in contemporary tree calf, expertly rebacked, with the original crimson label with gilt titles, gilt stamped decorations on the relayed spine, new endpapers, sporadic foxing and some offsetting from the plates, a very good to fine copy of the rarest of the London editions. Very Good to Fine. Item #42705
Howes C215; Lande 108; Sabin 11184; JCB 2538; TPL 415; COX 11. This edition contains the two leaves of "Address to the Public" and a plate of the Tobacco plant, neither found in the first edition. "The second edition is by far the rarest of the three London editions" (Stevens, Rare Americana, 1927) . After serving in five campaigns against the French in Canada, and narrowly escaping massacre while commanding a company at Fort William Henry, Jonathan Carver determined to explore beyond the Mississippi, and to find an overland route to the Pacific Ocean. Starting from Boston, in June 1766, he travelled 1300 miles to the most remote British post and surveyed the bays and rivers of Lake Superior. Then, with supplies for trade with the Indians, he struck north-west of the Mississippi area, further than any explorer had been except Hennepin in 1680 and later proceeded west to the sources of the St. Pierre, or Minnesota, River, living among the Indians and learning their language. He returned to Boston in October 1768, having visited 12 Indian nations and travelled some seven thousand miles. Carver's work is particularly rich in Indian lore and the methods of Indian warfare are described in detail. The book is also of value as a record of early travels in Minnesota and French Canada and contains one of the earliest descriptions of the regions Carver left for Boston for Fort Michilimakinac, via Lake Superior.
Price: $3,200.00