Beschreibung:

LEWIS & CLARK] GASS, PATRICK. A Journal of the Voyages and Travels of a Corps of Discovery, under the Command of Captain Lewis and ... . Pittsburgh: printed by Zadok Cramer, for David M'Keehan, 1807. First edition. Original sheep backed boards, housed in a custom folding case. 6 3/4 x 4 inches (17.5 x 11 cm); viii, [9]-262, with three blanks at rear. The binding worn and rubbed with loss to spine and a weak upper joint, retains only remnants of the front endpaper, early signatures to title, endpapers, pastedowns and to a few internal pages, small marginal chip and short tear to title and first leaf, thumbsoiling, tear into text from gutter of p. 131, toned, the text generally clean. The first substantial report of the Lewis & Clark expedition, published seven years before the official report. According to Wagner-Camp, Gass "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." Of the various ownership signatures present in this copy, the earliest belongs to Stewart Rowan, who signed the title and reports the book sold to Frederick Woods at an early date and the later signatures are mainly from descendants of Woods. While a full connection is not yet determined, Patrick Gass' youngest brother James was married to a Rebecca Rowan in 1793. Howes G77; Sabin 26741; Graff 1516; AI 12646; Smith 3465; Wagner-Camp 6:1. C