The navigator, containing directions for navigating the Monongahela, Allegheny, Ohio, and Mississippi Rivers; with an ample account of these much admired waters, from the head of the former to the mouth of the latter; and a concise description of their towns, villages, harbors, settlements, &c. with maps of the Ohio and Mississippi. To which is added an appendix, containing an account of Louisiana, and of the Missouri and Columbia Rivers, as discovered by the voyage under Capts. Lewis and Clark

Cramer, Zadok

Published by Robert Ferguson & Co. for Cramer, Spear, and Eichbaum, Pittsburgh, 1817

About this Item

Ninth edition. Pittsburgh: Robert Ferguson & Co. for Cramer, Spear, and Eichbaum, 1817. Duodecimo in 6s (6 1/2" x 4 1/8", 165mm x 106mm). [Full collation available.] With 28 full-page wood-cut river charts within the text. Bound in modern red half morocco over red cloth boards. On the spine, title gilt to head-piece, date gilt to tailpiece. With occasional mild soiling. Red numerical ink stamp to the recto of the first binder's blank, violet ink stamps of the New Bedford Free Public Library dated Oct. 1890 to the title-page and to p. 25. Zadok Cramer (1773-1814), a New Jerseyan of Quaker origin, dedicated his life to books. He opened his bookstore "Franklin Head" on Market street in Philadelphia in 1800 and established his own publication company there later. The Navigator was born out of necessity. Cramer had noticed the need for a guide to navigating the rivers that were bound west and south after he saw groups of immigrants pass through Pittsburgh asking for directions. The Navigator was published before the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, but Cramer grew interested in the Lewis and Clark expedition and was in fact the first to publish an account of the expedition as The Journal of Patrick Gass in 1807. From this account Cramer took descriptions of the Missouri and Columbia Rivers, which were added to the Navigator in 1808, and included in all subsequent editions. Additional information was added to each edition, and at the pinnacle of its popularity in 1814 it reached 360 pages. All editions after this began to shrink in size. Howes C 855; Sabin 17386. Seller Inventory # LM0004

Bibliographic Details

Title: The navigator, containing directions for ...

Publisher: Robert Ferguson & Co. for Cramer, Spear, and Eichbaum, Pittsburgh

Publication Date: 1817

Binding: Hardcover

Condition: Near fine

Edition: Ninth.