Though the pagination and signatures appear unbroken, other copies from the same edition have two “C” signatures of four leaves each, one of which is not present here. The pagination of those copies runs 1-24, 17-116pp. This anomaly is not mentioned by Sabin.
The work opens with a two page letter by Thomas Jefferson, dated February 19, 1806, and essentially summarising the expedition: “captain Meriwether Lewis, of the first regiment of infantry, was appointed, with a party of men, to explore the river Missouri, from its mouth to its source, and, crossing the highlands by the shortest portage, to seek the best water communication thence to the Pacific ocean; and lieutenant Clarke was appointed second in command. They were to enter into conference with the Indian nations on their route, with a view to establish commerce with them.”
This is followed by a letter from Lewis to Jefferson, dated April 17th, noting the number natural history specimens collected, that part of Clarke’s journal is enclosed, “to give you the daily details of progress and transactions.” Lewis states that he does not expect to compete the expedition by the end of the year, but that he should be back at Monticello by September 1806. The rest of the book includes “A Statistical View of the Indian Nations inhabiting the Territory of Louisiana”, and “Historical Sketches of the several Indian Tribes in Louisiana, south of the Arkansas River.”
Jefferson was a key sponsor of the expedition and had known Lewis for quite some time. Indeed, in 1801, Jefferson made Lewis his private secretary, saying the role was more in the manner of an aide-de-camp and Lewis was able to remain on the active army list as a captain. ANB clarifies Jefferson’s role in the expedition: “Jefferson had long hoped that an exploring expedition could cross the American continent, and he involved Lewis in planning for this ambitious undertaking. Jefferson was interested in the possibility of a water route to the Pacific and in trade with the Indians, but he also had a scientific interest in the trans-Mississippi West. He thought that Lewis, a trusted old Virginia neighbor, had the qualities of leadership and the experience necessary to lead the expedition.”
Howes states: “The Sibley-Dunbar descriptions of the Texas-Louisiana frontier gave the first formal and satisfactory picture of the southern portion of the Louisiana Purchase.”
Howes, L319; Field, 926; Sabin, 40826.
