Expéditions

1857 · réf. 375531 — New York: G. P. Putnam & Co 1857. One of 150 copies of the unofficial issue. Text: 4 777 1pp. Atlas: 100 engraved plates. 4pp. 2 vols. 4to text and folio atlas. Modern half russet morocco and cloth covered boards. Heavy foxing to the plates in the atlas small chip at fore-edge of atlas title minor dampstaining at lower outer corner of plates tape repair to final leaf of text. Provenance: University of Chicago ink stamp and blindstamp deaccession stamp. One of 150 copies of the unofficial issue. Text: 4 777 1pp. Atlas: 100 engraved plates. 4pp. 2 vols. 4to text and folio atlas. A very rare set of the text and plates of Asa Gray's report on the botany of the Wilkes Expedition illustrated with 100 engraved plates of plants collected by the first scientific expedition conducted by the United States Navy. The United States Exploring Expedition circumnavigated the globe under the command of Charles Wilkes between the summer of 1838 and the summer of 1842. The Wilkes Expedition "was the first American scientific expedition of any size charged to 'extend the bounds of Science and promote the acquisition of knowledge' and was one of the most ambitious Pacific expeditions ever attempted" Forbes. The Expedition represents "the first governmental sponsorship of scientific endeavor and was instrumental in the nation's westward expansion. Specimens gathered by expedition scientists became the foundation collections of the Smithsonian Institution. Significant American contributions in the fields of geology botany conchology anthropology and linguistics came from the scientific work of the expedition. Wilkes's evaluations of his landfalls influenced later U.S. positions in those areas" DAB. The Narrative of the expedition was first published in 1844 but the separately-issued scientific reports and atlases for the United States Exploring Expedition were published over a long period of time; the Expedition returned in 1842 and the final volume did not appear until 1874. Because of their limited issue and historical importance all the separately-issued scientific reports and atlases from the Expedition are highly sought after though they very rarely appear on the market. Gray's report is specifically on the "phanerogamia" seed plants or flowering plants collected during the four year voyage. The history of the publication of the many scientific reports that resulted from the Wilkes Expedition is filled with difficulties in their writing and production and Gray's botanical report is exemplary of these difficulties. "The preparation of the reports on the botanical collections brought back by the Expedition proved to be one of the worst headaches encountered during the course of the entire publication" Haskell. Asa Gray was one of the most acclaimed botanists of his era and he was the original selection as botanist for the Wilkes Expedition. In the time between his appointment and the expedition's departure in 1838 however Gray accepted the position of Professor of Botany at the University of Michigan and so he resigned from Charles Wilkes's command and was replaced by William Rich. Rich completed his botanical report in 1846 and submitted it to Wilkes who found it wholly unacceptable. Eventually Asa Gray was asked to study the specimens gathered on the expedition and to produce this report which he agreed to do and which he worked on for three years. Gray initially planned for a two-volume text report and an atlas including 300 folio plates. In the end the text was issued in one large volume and the atlas contained 100 plates drawn by the talented botanical artist Isaac Sprague. The botanical specimens described in the text and depicted in the atlas come primarily from throughout the Pacific Rim including the islands of the South Pacific Hawaii Singapore the Philippines Australia New Zealand and several countries in South America - predominantly Brazil and Chile. The total number of texts published from the voyage of the United States Exploring Expedition is massive - a total of twenty-four volumes of narrative and scientific reports. Asa Gray's botanical report is designated as Volume XV. As with Charles Wilkes's narrative account of the United States Exploring Expedition Gray's botanical report was issued in "official" and "unofficial" editions. The official edition of Gray's report was published by Sherman & Son of Philadelphia in an edition of 100 copies each of text and plates and the unofficial edition was issued by Putnam of New York in an edition of 150 copies again as quarto text and folio plates. Either edition is exceedingly rare in commerce as they were mostly intended for presentation or for placement in research libraries. Sabin writing in 1875 comments that "owing to some mistake a large number of copies of the Atlas were sold by auction unbound and without the letterpress the result is that odd volumes are comparatively common - whole sets are scarce." Actually the text or atlas individually or the two volumes together are exceedingly rare in the market. A highly desirable scientific report from the Wilkes Expedition with an atlas of 100 attractive plates with text by the noted botanist Asa Gray. Haskell 61 and 63; Rosove 354-10.A2 and 355-6.A2 both text and atlas described as "rare"; Sabin 28368; Meisel II pp.668-669; Nissen 2153; Stafleu 2129 2130; Pritzel 3529; Forbes 1993. Not in Spence G. P. Putnam & Co unknown