Reports of Explorations and Surveys, to Ascertain the Most Practicable and Economical Route for a Railroad from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean Made under the Direction of the Secretary of War, in 1853-4. Volume II (John Wesley Powell's copy)

Name: Reports of Explorations and Surveys, to Ascertain the Most Practicable and Economical Route for a Railroad from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean Made under the Direction of the Secretary of War, in 1853-4. Volume II (John Wesley Powell's copy)
Author: [Powell, John Wesley] [E.G. Beckwith] [F.W. Lander] [John Pope] [John G. Parke] [W.H. Emory] [Asa Gray] [John Torrey]

[Powell, John Wesley] [E.G. Beckwith] [F.W. Lander] [John Pope] [John G. Parke] [W.H. Emory] [Asa Gray] [John Torrey]

Published by A.O.P. Nicholson, Printer, Washington, 1855

First Edition
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Seller: Rural Hours, La Grande, OR, U.S.A.Rural Hours

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John Wesley Powell's copy of Volume II of these 1853-54 reports, with his stamp faintly in purple ink on the title page. A good only copy with dampstaining throughout, but collectible in light of its owner, who famously would go on to survey and provide his own report on the Grand Canyon. These 1853-54 reports were issued somewhat haphazardly in 12 volumes, apparently as they were received rather than by region. Volume II contains the following: 1) "Report, by Lieutenant E.G. Beckwith, Third Artillery, upon the Route near the Thirty-Eighth and Thirty-Ninth Parallels Explored by Captain J.W. Gunnison, Corps of Topographical Engineers" (Gunnison was killed on the journey); 2) "Report of Lieutenant E.G. Beckwith . . . upon the Route near the Forty-First Parallel"; 3) Report of a Reconnaissance from Puget Sound, via South Pass, to the Mississippi River, by F.W. Lander, Civil Engineer"; 4) "Report of Brevet Captain John Pope, Corps Topographical Engineers, upon the Portion of the Route near the Thirty-Second Parallel, Lying between the Red River [the Colorado] and the Rio Grande"; 5) "Report of Lieutenant John G. Park, Corps Topographical Engineers, upon the Portion of the Route near the Thirty-Second Parallel, Lying between the Rio Grande and Pimas Village, on the Gila"; and 6) "Extract from Report of a Military Reconnaissance Made by Lieutenant Colonel W.H. Emory, U.S. Army, of the Portion of the Route near the Thirty-Second Parallel, Lying between the Mouths of the San Pedro and Gila Rivers." Among several of the later reports are botanical sections by Asa Gray and John Torrey. These are replete with nice line-drawing botanical plates. In the first Beckwith report, J.M. Stanley provides a series of beautiful vista illustrations in color of the Gunnison route. Near the rear are a fold out map and a fold out geological section depicting the stretch between the Colorado River ("Red River) and the Rio Grande. A contemporary binding of red cloth and quarter/corner leather, with five raised bands and gilt lettering on spine. Red marbled endpapers. Again, good only with dampstaining to all corners of the pages, top and bottom (see photos). The pages have some light waviness to them, but turn fine and are readable, the text itself mostly free of staining. Mottling on front board, wrinkle on rear. Rubbing to board edges and nicks to spine corners as one might expect for a heavy book of this age. Despite its condition, still a special copy--Powell's.The inclusion of the Colorado River in the fourth report in the volume would have ultimately been of special interest to him, and one imagines the example of these reports would have influenced his own.

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Title: Reports of Explorations and Surveys, to Ascertain the Most Practicable and Economical Route for a Railroad from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean Made under the Direction of the Secretary of War, in 1853-4. Volume II (John Wesley Powell's copy)
Author: [Powell, John Wesley] [E.G. Beckwith] [F.W. Lander] [John Pope] [John G. Parke] [W.H. Emory] [Asa Gray] [John Torrey]
Publisher: A.O.P. Nicholson, Printer, Washington
Publication year: 1855
Condition: Good
Binding: Hardcover
Edition: First edition.
Seller catalogs: Environmental History, Interior West, The American West

Rural Hours

La Grande, OR, U.S.A.

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Visit us at www.ruralhours.com. Rural Hours (formerly Wood River Books) specializes in ecology, natural history, nature and science writing, the environment, ecopoetics, contemporary essay, and literary journalism, with a special passion for association copies and notable inscriptions. Our name is an homage to Susan Fenimore Cooper's book Rural Hours (1850), considered the first work of environmental nonfiction by an American woman. The daughter of James Fenimore Cooper, Susan Cooper was also an accomplished watercolorist, and her birds from Rural Hours populate these pages. Her rendering of a "chimney swallow" (now known as a swift) serves as our logo and mascot: sleek and elevated, part sky and part city street. Rural Hours is mainly a project of writer and teacher Nick Neely. Along with a pair of MFA degrees in nonfiction and poetry, Nick has a Master's in Literature and Environment from the University of Nevada, Reno. He has much expertise and years of experience in the field of eco-writing. His first book, Coast Range, was a finalist for John Burroughs Medal for nature writing and his second book, Alta California--about a 12-week trek he made along the California coast--was a Los Angeles Times bestseller. Check out the "Rambles" page for eventual short essays from him on environmental lit, new books, and more. Rural Hours is a young venture, but we aspire to be among the leaders in the field of rare and interesting eco-writing. We believe, emphatically, that environmental literature and its preservation is in the service of the preservation of the world. In addition to helping serious collectors and institutions build their libraries and archives, our goal is to curate a substantial "house collection" of environmental writing for public display on this site and beyond, one that shows the evolution of the genre(s). That will be a perennial work in progress. We hope to draw a deep, explorable map of environmental writing that traces the lineage and connections between authors and artists determined to render and protect the earth, locally and globally. At the same time, we would like to challenge the usual contours of the "environmental literature" canon and promote a more diverse and inclusive array of voices; in that way, our longterm goal is to excavate the past and curate toward the future. Rural Hours also hopes to eventually have an open shop and gallery space, but for now we are only online. You've come to the right the place. Enjoy poking around, and then head out for a walk.

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