1842–1901
History | of | the
Expedition | under the command of | Captains
Lewis and
Clarke, | to | the sources of the Missouri, thence across the
Rocky | Mountains, and down the River Columbia to the |
Pacific
Ocean: performed during the | Years 1804, 1805, 1806,
| by order
of the | Government of the United States.
| Prepared for the press | by
Paul Allen, Esq. |
Revised, and abridged by the omission of umimportant
[sic] de-
| tails, with an introduction and notes, | by Archibald
McVickar. | In two volumes. | Vol. I. [II.]
|
New-York: | Harper and Brothers, 82 Cliff-St. |
1842. |
2 vols.; 18 mo. Vol. 1:—Title, with copyright on
verso; "Advertisement",
pp.
[iii]–vi; "Contents", pp. [i]–v; p. [vi] blank; "Introduction",
pp. [vii]–li; p. [lii]
blank; text, pp. [53]–371; "Catalogue of
Books", on verso of p. 371. Vol. II:—Title,
with copyright on verso;
"Contents", pp. [iii]–x; text, pp.
[9]–338; "Appendix", pp. [339]–
395; verso of p. 395 blank.
Plates: Vol. 1, "Map of Lewis and Clark's,
Track across the Western
Portion of North America, . . . Drawn & Engraved
by W. G. Evans N.
York", to face title; "Fortification" opp. p. 87;
"Principal Cascade of
the Missouri" opp. p. 223; "The Falls & Portage"
opp. p. 234. Vol. II,
"Great Falls of Columbia River" opp. p. 64; "The
Great Shoot or Rapid"
opp. p. 79; "Mouth of Columbia River" opp. p. 92.
Signatures: Vol. I, 3
prel. leaves, A–H
h in sixes; x
2
misprinted H
2. Vol.
II, 5 prel. leaves, A in two,
B–K
k in sixes.
The foregoing description is
from a set of the original edition in the Library
of Congress. It is a
curious fact that all of the editions which I have seen, even
those of a
late date, perpetuate an error in the stereotype plates, namely "unimportant"
on the title-pages, which is
given as "umimportant."
By the kindness of Mr. A. V. S. Anthony, of
Harper and Brothers, I have
been able to test my record of subsequent
editions by the books of the publishers.
He also states that "several
small editions have been published since 1891, of
which no record was
kept." The following is a conspectus of the issues of this
oft-printed
work, brought out originally in Harpers' popular "Family Library":
—
September, 1842; January, 1843; May, 1843; January, 1844; July,
1845;
April, 1847; May, 1850; August, 1851; June, 1855; April, 1858;
November,
1860; February, 1868; March, 1871 (vol. II); April, 1872
(vol. I);
February, 1874 (vol. II); December, 1875 (vol. I); 1876 (copy
in NYHS, but
publishers have no record); February, 1881; March, 1882;
July, 1883;
April, 1886; February, 1887; June, 1891; June, 1901; several
undated
editions of late publication (one such in NYHS).
Sabin in his Dictionary of Books relating to America mentions a London,
1842, edition of McVickar, but it is not in the
British Museum. I have not
been able to verify his statement, yet it is
not unlikely that the American publishers
may have made up some sets for the English market.
