Wilkes, Charles:

$32,500 · Offered by William Reese Company

NARRATIVE OF THE UNITED STATES EXPLORING EXPEDITION. DURING THE YEARS 1838, 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842. One of the great rarities of Pacific voyages, here in a mixed set of the true first edition and the first quarto edition of the narrative of the first great scientific expedition sponsored by the government of the United States. The first three volumes of the present set consist of the special Sherman edition of 100 copies, which is the true first edition and was issued for private distribution. The final two volumes are of the Lea and Blanchard printing, which was limited to 150 copies and was preceded only by the Sherman edition. The Lea and Blanchard edition is on the same format as the Sherman edition, and differs only in the preliminary material.The United States Exploring Expedition circumnavigated the globe under the command of Charles Wilkes between the summer of 1838 and the summer of 1842 (for a detailed account of the voyage, see the sources cited below). In July 1842, almost immediately upon his return, Wilkes began work on the narrative, drawing on all of the data and logs assembled by the members of the expedition. This took two years, but by August 1844 the first volume was in the press, and the whole set was ready for binding by the end of the year. The first "Sherman edition," in large quarto format, consisted of only 100 copies for the use of the government, and is easily distinguished by the Sherman imprint of 1844. The "Lea and Blanchard" quarto edition soon

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