Astoria, or Anecdotes of an Enterprise Beyond the Rocky Mountains
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- Philadelphia: Carey, Lea, and Blanchard, 1836
Philadelphia: Carey, Lea, and Blanchard, 1836. First Edition, 1st Printing. Near Fine. In Two Volumes [8.5x5.5in]; Volume I - [3], 4-6, introduction, xii [1], 14-285 pp., Volume II - [3], viii, map, [1], 10-279 pp., fold out map sketch of the Routes of Hunt and Stuart, appendix; Contemporary Half-bound dark brown calf on dark green cloth covers with gilt lettering on spines, six ribbed panels with embossed design and gilt rules on spine, blind rules on covers, marbled end papers and all edges of text, all edges trimmed; Shelf wear to covers, edges and corners with rubbing to joints and edges corners bumped with minor fraying, labels with small chips along edges, archival repairs to missing portion of title pages archival repair of map closed tears, age toning along edges with light foxing spots in text block, bookplate of John Drew on front paste down of both volumes with light glue marks from a likely removal of newer bookplate, Vol II lacking advertisements. [Bradford 2623, Wagner-Camp 61.1, Howes I-81, Hill 872, Smith 5023, Langfeld and Blackburn p. 35, Sabin 35129, Graff 2158, BAL 10148]. Washington Irving (1783-1859) was an American author, historian, and diplomat in the early 1800's. He is one of the first American authors acclaimed in Europe with the short stories of Rip Van Winkle (1819) and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (1820). In 1832, after returning to the United States from a 17 years in England, he was a successful and famous author and wanted to see the American frontier. His first western trip was with Judge Henry Leavitt Ellsworth to explore the Oklahoma area with an Army Ranger expedition. From this adventure, Irving wrote ‘The Tour on the Prairies’ 1835, which became immensely popular.
Irving continued to expand his interests in the American West. From Hill..."In the course of visits to Canada, Irving met many of the old members of the North West Fur Company, and ... gathered details of John Astor's attempt to push the fur trade across the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific coast and of the settlement of Astoria, established at the mouth of the Columbia River in 1811." This also substantiated the United States claim to the Oregon Territory from Great Britain. From Reese, this is one of the best know works of Western Americana... It describes John Jacob Astor's Pacific Coast fur trading enterprise, based in part on the journals of Robert Stuart, Wilson Price Hunt, and Ramsay Crooks, along with extracts from Captain Bonneville's noted on the western Indians.
Irving continued to expand his interests in the American West. From Hill..."In the course of visits to Canada, Irving met many of the old members of the North West Fur Company, and ... gathered details of John Astor's attempt to push the fur trade across the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific coast and of the settlement of Astoria, established at the mouth of the Columbia River in 1811." This also substantiated the United States claim to the Oregon Territory from Great Britain. From Reese, this is one of the best know works of Western Americana... It describes John Jacob Astor's Pacific Coast fur trading enterprise, based in part on the journals of Robert Stuart, Wilson Price Hunt, and Ramsay Crooks, along with extracts from Captain Bonneville's noted on the western Indians.