PBA Galleries

780 pp. With 28 duotone or color lithographed plates, some double-page, 10 being  reproductions of old maps; 3 large folding maps. (4to) 29x22.5 cm (11½x9"), original half morocco & cloth, spine lettered in gilt, raised bands, marbled endpapers & edges.

First volume in Wheeler's massive report on the surveys of the West he directed, with many notable lithographed plates, three important maps, etc. "Representing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Wheeler surveyed some 361,000 square miles of the southwest between 1869 and 1979...Wheeler's primary objective was to prepare a detailed topographic map of the West. In pursuit of this goal he divided the area of the West into ninety-five 'principal' rectangles, each rectangle comprising 2 degrees 45' minutes of longitude and 1 degree 40' minutes of latitude, to be covered in four atlas sheets." (Schwartz & Ehrenberg, pp. 304-306). Wheeler's survey was the most ambitious of the great post-Civil War surveys of the West, in the area covered and in the breadth of attention paid to the natural sciences. The three folding map are:

• Map showing the routes of the River and Land Parties engaged in exploring the Grand Cañon of the Colorado... 1871. 38.2x41 cm.
• Sketch indicating the advancement of the Surveys of the Public Lands and the Military, Topographical and Geographical Surveys West of the Mississippi... 1879. 8x.5x112 cm.
• Sketch indicating a distribution of Territorial Domain of the United States into districts favorable to the operations of parties prosecuting general government surveys... 1879. 50x72 cm.

Presentation slip from Wheeler tipped to front pastedown.

Provenance: California Book Auction, 9/91