Journal of a Tour in Unsettled Parts of North America in 1796 and 1797 ; with a Memoir of the Author
London: Baily Brothers, 1856. First edition. Hardcover. Octavo. Rebacked in darker brown, with gilt titles, recornered in black, New endpapers, with old Westley's binding ticket replaced at rear pastedown along with a square of cloth from the original spine containing the title. Cloth on boards is original with light scuffing. Embossed stamp partially excised on title page and on p. 101. Handwritten 5 digit number on copyright page. Pages have very light foxing, a bit more so at front and rear. An important early travel memoir by an Englishman of the Mississippi and Ohio valleys, published 12 years after the author's death. After visiting Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, and a very early Washington DC, Baily headed west, down the Ohio and MS Valleys, surviving 2 shipwrecks. During the Mississippi part of the trip he met Daniel Boone as Boone traveled by canoe, saw a very early paddlewheeler, and stopped at a US outpost commanded by Zebulon Pike. Baily headed back East after seeing New Orleans via the Natchez Trace and the Tennessee Path, and his journal ends when he reached Knoxville. After his return from America, Baily joined the London Stock Exchange and then retired in 1825 to focus on astronomy. He was one of the founders of the Royal Astronomical Society and was president 4 times. Uncommon in a first edition. The Memoir of Baily was written by his friend Herschel, who was an even more renowned astronomer. xii, 439 p. Howes B40. Very good. Item #18581
Price: $625.00