REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF WAR ON THE SEVERAL PACIFIC RAILROAD EXPLORATIONS. Washington: A. O. P. Nicholson, Printer, 1855. 24.5x15.8 cm (octavo), pp. [1-3] 4-43 [44: blank], uncut, untrimmed sheets, sewn. First edition, first printing. 33d Congress, 1st Session, House Document 129. This is the introductory report of the first volume of the first series (octavo edition) of the monumental PACIFIC RAILROAD REPORTS. In the Congressional army appropriation bill of 1853-1854 the Secretary of War was authorized "to employ such portion of the corps of topographical engineers and such other persons as he may deem necessary, to make such explorations and surveys as he may deem advisable, to ascertain the most practical and economical route for a railroad from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean." Accordingly, Secretary of War Jefferson Davis designated four routes of exploration and survey, as well as a survey on the Pacific Coast to locate routes between San Francisco and the Pacific Northwest and connect ports in San Francisco and San Diego to the southern transcontinental routes. Initially, completed reports were to be published in a three-volume work accompanied by an atlas, but only the first two volumes and the atlas were printed and distributed. The second series (quarto edition) was published in twelve volumes between 1855 and 1861. "Despite their flaws, these volumes contain a monumental collection of scientific information, geographical, zoological, botanical, geological, of the still mysterious American West" (Becker, Wagner, Camp). Wagner, Camp and Becker (1982) 261: (volume I, section 1). Thread loose, gatherings detached, title leaf dusty, a good copy. This copy obviously issued separately. A seminal document of western exploration. (#179158).
Price: $450.00
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