The California and Oregon Trail.

PARKMAN, Francis.

$5,500.00

Item Number: 2720

New York: George P. Putnam, 1849.

First edition, first printing of Parkman’s classic account of his journey along the Oregon Trail. Octavo, original cloth, tinted lithographic frontispiece and vignette half title by Felix Octavius Carr Darley. This is the scarce first issue in cloth, with ad leaf preceding the frontispiece. Publisher’s catalogue in the rear and binding with PARKMAN set in sans-serif type on the spine. A good example with the crown and foot of the spine showing wear and wear to the bottom boards, without the usual restoration. Contemporary inscription on the front free endpaper. Housed in a custom half morocco case.

The California and Oregon Trail is the gripping account of Francis Parkman's journey west across North America in 1846. After crossing the Allegheny Mountains by coach and continuing by boat and wagon to Westport, Missouri, he set out with three companions on a horseback journey that would ultimately take him over two thousand miles. His detailed description of the journey, set against the vast majesty of the Great Plains, has emerged through the generations as a classic narrative of one man's exploration of the American Wilderness.