NARRATIVE OF A JOURNEY ACROSS THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS, TO THE COLUMBIA RIVER, AND A VISIT TO THE SANDWICH ISLANDS, CHILI, &c. WITH A SCIENTIFIC APPENDIX. By John K. Townsend, Member of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. Philadelphia: Henry Perkins, 134 Chestnut Street. Boston: Perkins & Marvin, 1839. 23.2x13.8 cm, pp. [i-v] vi-viii [9] 10-352, original decorated black cloth, front and rear panels stamped in blind, spine panel stamped in gold and blind. First edition. Townsend traveled with naturalist Thomas Nutall and Jason Lee in Nathaniel Wyeth's second expedition to Oregon in 1834; leaving Independence at the end of April, 1834, the party stopped en route at the unfinished Fort Hall, and reached Fort Vancouver in the middle of September. Streeter calls his narrative "one of the best early ones." Hill remarks that "Townsend also gives in-depth observations of the manners and customs of the Indians and of the lives of the fur traders in the Columbia region." On the return trip, Tahiti and Juan Fernandez Island were visited" Townsend was an ornithologist, and his notes on the natural history of the region, along with Nuttall's, were made available to John James Audubon for Birds of America. Forbes 1183. Graff 4173. Hill 1211. Howes T 319. Sabin 96381. Streeter 2094. Smith 10282. Tweney 77. Wagner Camp and Becker (1982) 79. A lovely, nearly fine copy. (#166967).
Price: $3,500.00
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