Pacific RailroadABAA
REPORTS OF EXPLORATIONS AND SURVEYS TO ASCERTAIN THE MOST PRACTICABLE AND ECONOMICAL ROUTE FOR A RAILROAD FROM THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN. MADE UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE SECRETARY OF WAR IN 1853- 4.
1860WRCAM41089BWashington 1860. Twelve volumes bound in thirteen. Profusely illustrated with maps lithographic plates colored lithographic plates profiles etc. Large thick quarto. Original blindstamped cloth spines gilt. Minor edge wear. Each volume rebacked retaining original backstrip but with new endpapers. All but one volume from the Senate issue Vol. XII Part 1 is the House issue with a Senate backstrip. Lacking the general map of the routes surveyed from Vol. XI. Several maps with holes and separations along fold lines many with large tears including Warren's map of the western United States. Occasional tideline affecting text or an illustration scattered foxing and toning. Overall quite clean internally. Good plus. This large quarto set is the most important and massive compilation of exploration reports and data ever published about the trans-Mississippi West. Under the direction of Secretary of War Jefferson Davis the Pacific Railroad survey in two years increased the contemporary knowledge of the geography topography geology and natural history of the West by a quantum leap. Included herein are the reports of Humphreys Stevens Beckwith Whipple Warren Williamson Lander et al supplemented with reports on scientific observations and numerous significant achievements in cartography including Warren's "Map of the Territory of the United States from the Mississippi to the Pacific Ocean." here present in the eleventh volume which has been hailed as "the best cartographical work on the West up to its time." Howes. The illustrative material engraved and lithographed views specimens of birds fishes and other animals is of the highest quality often in colored state and encompasses thousands of illustrations either in the text or as separate plates. Wheat devotes twenty-four pages of detailed discussion to the maps in this series of reports singling out the Warren map as "among the great maps of the United States that preceded the Civil War." <br> <br> All things considered this edition of the Pacific Railroad Surveys stands as a testament to one of the greatest government sponsored projects in our history and is a foundation work for any collection devoted to Western Americana or cartography. HOWES P3 etc. WHEAT TRANSMISSISSIPPI 822 through 824 843 through 846 852 853 864 through 867 874 875 877 through 882 898 936 23 in all. TWENEY 89 59. WAGNER-CAMP 262 through 267. RITTENHOUSE 442. REESE STAMPED WITH A NATIONAL CHARACTER 75. ZAMORANO SELECT 108. REESE BEST OF THE WEST 138. hardcover books
William Reese Company · États-Unis8 500,00 $US≈ 7 191,85 €
