Original Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, 1804-1806 (8 vols complete)

Thwaites, Reuben Gold [editor]. Original Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, 1804-1806 (8 volumes, complete set). New York: Arno Press, 1969. [11264] Eight volumes in green cloth, gilt spine titles, pictorial inlay on the front covers as issued, 9 1/4 x 6 1/4 inches, tight, near fine. Small owner's inventory number and paper address label on the top corner of the front end papers, otherwise clean. Volume 8 is a clam-shell box matching the rest of the set, the Atlas volume with 54 facsimile maps in 58 parts, as issued. Includes the introductory pamphlet for the Atlas. The individual volumes have illustrations, drawings, and maps. Very good. Hardcover. With an Introduction by Bernard De Voto. The title for the Atlas volume is: Being Facsimile Reproductions of Maps, chiefly by William Clark, illustrating the route of the expedition, with sites of camping places and Indian villages, besides much miscellaneous data. Now for the first time published, from the original manuscripts in the possession of Mrs. Julia Clark Voorhis and Miss Eleanor Glasgow Voorhis, together with a modern map of the route prepared especially for this volume. A reprint of the first edition published in 1904 by The American Philosophical Society. The manuscript originals are in eighteen small notebooks, approximately 6 x 4 inches in size, described as "of the type commonly used by surveyors in field work. "The available evidence suggests that Lewis and Clark carried their notebooks sealed in tin boxes that were intended to protect the relatively fragile journals from the elements. If nothing else, with Jefferson's advising, the journals were considered invaluable as the only reliable record of data gathered on the expedition. It seems likely, therefore, that great care would be taken in their preservation...Lewis and Clark often worked from rough notes compiled daily, then periodically transcribed these into more polished form in the bound volumes, however in most cases, the time between taking the notes and transcribing them must have been very brief. On many occasions, the explorers clearly wrote directly into the bound volumes...The journals contain huge volumes of data, going beyond geographical notes and records of temperature and weather. Both men made meticulous observations on the geology and biology of the region and enlivened their journals with images of animals and plants, Indian artifacts, canoes, and costumes. Clark drew a number of splendid maps...In their descriptions of dozens of new plant and animal species, in their lengthy 'ethnographic' descriptions of Native Americans, and in their invaluable maps of the region, Lewis and Clark more than justified Jefferson's confidence and truly set the stage for an American west." - American Philosophical Society online, Treasures of the APS.