Narrative of the United States Exploring Expedition. During the years 1838, 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842.. by WILKES, Charles - 1845

Philadelphia: Lea & Blanchard, 1845. Six volumes, imperial octavo, with a portrait, 64 plates and nine maps in the text volumes, and the atlas as the sixth volume; numerous vignettes in the text; an excellent set in the original black cloth, decorated in blind and gilt, neat repairs to tops and tails of spines.

The splendid first public edition of the narrative of the first American naval exploring expedition, the massive official American expedition, one of the three great Antarctic voyages of the 1840s. The explorations of Wilkes along with the English under Ross and the French under Dumont d'Urville form the basis for today's territorial claims, and together established the knowledge of the frozen continent on which all subsequent expeditions built.

Among the great achievements of the Wilkes expedition was the detailed study of the flora and fauna of the many countries visited, the scientists making frequent and long excursions into the interiors. The expedition explored the South Pacific Islands, Australia and New Zealand, the Hawaiian Islands, the Northwest Coast, California, Singapore, the Cape of Good Hope and St. Helena, whilst the greatest achievement was the expedition into the Antarctic in the winter of 1839-40. Wilkes was the first to announce the existence of an Antarctic continent.

Wilkes's six ships ranged from Tierra del Fuego, Chile and Peru, to Samoa, Fiji, Tahiti, Hawaii, Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines and Singapore. Two of its most notable achievements were the extensive survey of the American Northwest coast and the exploration of some 1500 miles of the Antarctic coast, "thereby proving the existence of the seventh continent. Equally important, the Expedition collected and described natural history specimens from all parts of the globe - specimens that eventually came to the fledgling Smithsonian Institution, making it the National Museum of the United States. In a wider sense, the Expedition led to the emergence of the United States as a naval and scientific power with worldwide interests...". ('Magnificent Voyagers. The U.S. Exploring Expedition', ed. H.J. Viola and C. Margolis, Smithsonian Institution, 1985, p.9).

Only 1000 copies of this were printed, the first edition of the narrative of the first American naval exploring expedition to be generally available to the public; it was preceded by the very rare quarto official and unofficial editions, which were printed in 100 and 150 copies respectively (many of which were subsequently destroyed) and are today almost unknown on the market. Later editions, including the second 1845 octavo edition, are smaller in size, are generally of inferior quality and do not include the fine steel-engravings found here. this is thus the much preferred edition for the collector of Antarctic material.

Later editions, including the second 1845 octavo edition, are smaller in size, do not include the fine steel-engravings found in the present edition, and are generally of inferior quality.

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