1808, etc.
The Navigator, published
in many editions at Pittsburgh, by Zadok
Cramer, contains in an appendix
to some of the editions a short account
of the expedition of Lewis and
Clark. This work is a composite,
mostly devoted to "directions for
navigating the Monongahela, Allegheny,
Ohio,
and Mississippi rivers", together with correlative matter.
Its structure
is crude. The first edition appeared in 1801. It was in
its inception a
small pamphlet, devoted solely to the Ohio.
So far as I can ascertain,
the Lewis and Clark appeared for the first time in
the "Sixth Edition" of
1808, on pp. 146–156, based on Gass, etc. It is
entitled, "A brief
account of the Missouri river, and the extensive and fertile
country through which it winds, as
traversed by captain Lewis and captain Clark
—A short notice of the
Indians and their customs—different kinds of wild
animals—
fowls—fish—curiosities &c. And of the Columbia river." In
the "Advertisement" of "The Editor", this part purports to have been
"collected from the letters of captain Clark and other publications since
the
return of the party". The "Seventh Edition" (1811) reproduced this
text
on pp. 254–268. Beginning with the "Eighth Edition" (1814), pp.
343–
349, the text is very different from that of the sixth and
seventh editions. All
of these subsequent editions have a mere summary
headed, "Abridgment of
Lewis and Clark's Expedition." I have seen the
editions of 1802 (third),
1808 (sixth), 1811 (seventh), 1814 (eighth),
1817 (ninth), 1818 (tenth),
and 1821 (eleventh); but there were
others.
