Easton Press, The Lewis and Clark Expedition (1803-1806) "Journals Of The Expedition" Limited Edition 2-Vol. Matched Set [Sealed]

Easton Press, Norwalk, CT. 1998. "Journals Of The Expedition" The Lewis and Clark Expedition (1803-1806). Two volume matching set. Limited Edition Collector's Set. Each volume is luxuriously bound in full genuine leather. Includes many portraits and illustrations. As New, sealed without any flaws. Mint condition.

• Edited by Nicholas Biddle
• Introduction by June Namias
• Forward by John Bakeless

Two volume set in one shipment: 

1. The Lewis and Clark Expedition (1803-1806), Vol. I
2. The Lewis and Clark Expedition (1803-1806), Vol. II

The Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery Expedition, was the first American expedition to cross what is now the western portion of the United States, departing in May, 1804 from St. Louis on the Mississippi River, making their way westward through the continental divide to the Pacific coast. The expedition was commissioned by President Thomas Jefferson shortly after the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 and consisted of a select group of U.S. Army volunteers under the command of Captain Meriwether Lewis and his close friend Second Lieutenant William Clark. The primary objectives were to explore and map the newly acquired territory, find a practical route across the Western half of the continent, and establish an American presence in this territory before Britain and other European powers tried to claim it. The journey lasted to September 1806. This edition includes the journals of the two captains and four enlisted men, an atlas of maps produced by the expedition, and a volume of natural history notes and other non-journal material.

From 1803—1806, in an exciting journey to the Pacific Ocean and back, Lewis and Clark's Corps of Discovery mapped the lands, described the natural wonders, and encountered the people of western North America. But, as Walter Kim wrote in Time, "If not for the … epic the captains scratched out while crouching on hillsides and squatting on riverbanks, we might not remember Lewis and Clark at all."

An in-depth look at Lewis and Clark's historic expedition through the explorers' journals. America's "first report on the West" (Bernard DeVoto).

In 1803, the great expanse of the Louisiana Purchase was an empty canvas. Keenly aware that the course of the nation's destiny lay westward??―??and that a “Voyage of Discovery” would be necessary to determine the nature of the frontier??―??President Thomas Jefferson commissioned Meriwether Lewis to lead an expedition from the Missouri River to the northern Pacific coast and back. From 1804 to 1806, accompanied by co-captain William Clark, the Shoshone guide Sacajawea, and thirty-two men, Lewis mapped rivers, traced the principal waterways to the sea, and established the American claim to the territories of Idaho, Washington, and Oregon. Together the captains kept this journal: a richly detailed record of the flora and fauna they sighted, the native tribes they encountered, and the awe-inspiring landscape they traversed, from their base camp near present-day St. Louis to the mouth of the Columbia River, which has become an incomparable contribution to the literature of exploration and the writing of natural history.

In 1803, when the United States purchased Louisiana from France, the great expanse of this new American territory was a blank - not only on the map but in our knowledge. President Thomas Jefferson keenly understood that the course of the nation's destiny lay westward and that a national "Voyage of Discovery" must be mounted to determine the nature and accessibility of the frontier. He commissioned his young secretary, Meriwether Lewis, to lead an intelligence-gathering expedition from the Missouri River to the northern Pacific coast and back. From 1804 to 1806, Lewis, accompanied by co-captain William Clark, the Shoshone guide Sacajawea, and thirty-two men, made the first trek across the Louisiana Purchase, mapping the rivers as he went, tracing the principal waterways to the sea, and establishing the American claim to the territories of Idaho, Washington, and Oregon. Together the captains kept a journal, a richly detailed record of the flora and fauna they sighted, the Indian tribes they encountered, and the awe-inspiring landscape they traversed, from their base camp near present-day St. Louis to the mouth of the Columbia River. In keeping this record they made an incomparable contribution to the literature of exploration and the writing of natural history.