[Americana] [Lewis, Meriwether, and William Clark] Fisher, William. An Interesting Account of the Voyages and Travels of Captains Lewis and Clarke, in the Years 1804-5, & 6...

Baltimore: Printed and Published by P. Mauro, 1813. Reprint of the 1812 Philadelphia edition. 12mo. xi, (i), (13)-266 pp. Illustrated with two frontispiece portraits of Lewis and Clark, as well as three plates ("The Bear Pursuing His Assailant", "A View of the Washita", "An Indian destined to Death"). Full contemporary tree calf, morocco spine label, stamped in gilt; front board detached but cords holding; rear joint cracked; extremities and boards rubbed; losses at spine ends; all edges trimmed; ownership inscription in pencil on front free endpaper of Mann S. Valentine, dated 1882; text leaves moderately to heavily darkened; moderate to heavy offsetting; spotting; ink stamp of The Valentine Museum on rear paste-down. Wagner-Camp 8:7; Sabin 24508; Graff 1331; Coues, pp. cxv-cxvi; Thwaites, pp. lxix-lxx; Pilling, Algonquian 1299

Apocryphal account of the Lewis and Clark expedition. First published in 1809 (under a different title) in response to the public's demand for information regarding the expedition and the delay in the publication of the official report. While it attempted to pass as the government-sanctioned account, in actuality, it was a hodge-podge of various sources, often plagiarized, and typically erroneous. Despite this, it is "notable as the first of this series of apocrypha which was illustrated" (Coues), and was influential in shaping the public's perception of the famed expedition, but the West more generally.

This copy has two portraits and three plates, as called for by Wagner-Camp, whereas Howes calls for four plates, although he notes that some copies only have three.

This lot is located in Philadelphia.