Fisher William Compiler (5 results)

Gilt decorated hard cover. First edition. Illustrated. Important reference work. Very scarce in this condition. Limited edition of 2000 copies. Fine copy in fine dust jacket (in mylar). 126 pps.

Softcover. Condition: Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: No Dust Jacket. First Edition; First Printing. First edition. Fine in plain tan trade-size paperback wrappers. (84pp. ) (5 1/2" X 8 1/4") Helpful reference. ; 5 1/2 " X 8 1/4"; 84 pages.

Philadelphia: James Sharan, 1812. 12mo, period full calf, leather spine label, one wood engraved portrait (of two), 300 pp. Top cover detached, and rear hinge is cracked, lacking one frontispiece engraving, foxing throughout, some staining, ownership signature on front pastedown, front endpaper partially detached. Comes in cardboard case with paper title on spine. Howes indicates that some copies of this title have a second title page, this copy does not. This work is a follow-up to book published in 1809 on the Lewis & Clark Expedition (1804-1806). Commisioned by President Thomas Jefferson, this expedition generated a lot of interest in the explorations and findings of Lewis and Clark. While this work was treated with some disdain by scholars, becuase it was often a rehashing of the material of Gass, Lewis & Clark, and Mackenzie's writings, it did help shape impressions of America during this period.

The second American printing of the so-called "Apocrypha edition" of Lewis and Clark, bearing the name of compiler William Fisher on the titlepage. In response to the growing curiosity of the public regarding the findings of Lewis and Clark, and the delay in publication of the "authorized account" of their expedition, this compilation of bits and pieces from already published works appeared (culled from Gass, Clark, Mackenzie, Carver, and Jefferson's Message of 1806), misleading the reader into believing it was the account sanctioned by the government and containing all the information gathered during the journey. Howes calls this the "spurious" edition, while Sabin states it contains material not published in any other edition. The work originally appeared in Philadelphia and London in 1809, followed by German printings in 1811 and 1812. A Baltimore edition also appeared in 1812, but Howes gives precedence to the Philadelphia printing. Howes mentions that some copies of this work contain a second titlepage, as in the present copy. WAGNER-CAMP 8:6. SABIN 24509. RADER 1397. HOWES F153a, "aa." PILLING, PROOF-SHEETS 1297. 300pp. plus two portraits. Contemporary calf, rebacked, gilt leather label. Corners heavily worn, boards scuffed. Light to moderate toning and soiling throughout. Good.

12mo (7 1/8 x 4 5/8 inches): dual wood-engraved frontispiece portraits of Lewis and Clark (a bit spotted). Bound in library binding (browned and spotted throughout). PROVENANCE: contemporary pen trials to frontispiece. First edition. So-called "apocryphal edition" of Lewis and Clark, bearing the name of compiler William Fisher on the title page. According to Paltsits, "In most copies the second title page is lacking," as here. "Another surreptitious account, allegedly written by William Fisher, Esquire, was published by James Sharan and printed in Philadelphia by James Mawell in 1812. It sold for $1.25. The title, 'New Travels Among the Indians of North America; Being a Compilation, Taken Partly from the Communications Already Published, of Captains Lewis and Clark,' admitted that the book was a compilation and was 'taken partly from other authors.' The contents included the one paragraph 'Recommendation' of Thomas Jefferson and an 'Introduction' that was a paraphrase of that in the surreptitious volumes published in 1809 in Philadelphia and London. Fisher wrote with the same gratuitous but hollow language of Hubbard Lester: 'The advantages, that arise from the discoveries of unknown regions, are too numerous to be mentioned,' he noted. 'They arise one after another in continual succession. Geography, Civilization, Humanity, and the Arts and Sciences, received aid from them.' The 'New Travels' included Clark's letter from Fort Mandan of April 2, 1805; Clark's letter from St. Louis of September 23, 1806; data on the tribes that was identified as taken from the pen of Alexander Mackenzie; the 'Statistical View'; and the irrelevant fillers about Master Neddy and George Washington. The volume was little more than a reprint of the book of Hubbard Lester with a new author and a more honest title.William Fisher and Hubbard Lester were probably the convenient pseudonyms of a wily publisher" (Beckham, pp. 125-126). REFERENCES: Stephen Dow Beckham, "The Literature of the Lewis and Clark Expedition: A Bibliography and Essays." Wagner-Camp 8:6. Sabin 24509. Howes F153a, "aa." American Imprints 26261.