March ... to Oregon, May to October 1849 - photo 1
March ... to Oregon, May to October 1849 - photo 2
March ... to Oregon, May to October 1849 - photo 3
March ... to Oregon, May to October 1849 - photo 4
March ... to Oregon, May to October 1849 - photo 5

March ... to Oregon, May to October 1849

Sold
$ 81 900
Auction dateClassic
26.05.2022 10:00UTC -04:00
Auctioneer
CHRISTIE'S
Event location
USA, New York
Archive
The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 752863
Lot 211 | March ... to Oregon, May to October 1849
March ... to Oregon, May to October 1849Osborne Cross, 1850[CROSS, Osborne (1803-1876.] A Report, in the form of a Journal, to the Quartermaster General, of the March of the Regiment of Mounted Riflemen to Oregon, from May 10 to October 5, 1849. Philadelphia: C. Sherman, 1850.A unique copy of Osborne Cross's already very rare landmark account of the Oregon Trail, with substantial manuscript corrections evidently in the author's own hand. Cross's report gives a detailed description of the emigrant trail to Oregon, including 36 views of scenes along the route from Fort Laramie to The Dalles. The view of Fort Laramie is the first one ever printed. Additionally, Cross's report also provides one of the best accounts of the migration west in the first year of the Gold Rush. According to Howes, the present first edition, "was of a few copies only, made up for the author, and can hardly be considered an edition." According to the records of RBH and ABPC, no copy of the first edition has been at auction since the Streeter sale in 1968. The first edition has larger illustrations than the later editions, indicated that the lithographic stones were completely remade.The manuscript corrections in the present copy range from a complete reworking of the title—including the addition of Maj. Gen T.S. Jessup as the dedicatee—to the addition of copious details and clarifications written in the first person. Examples include naming the clerk who traveled with him in a side party, more precise locations, and the information that when crossing the Fall River where it meets the Columbia, the animals do not swim the entire 100 yard width at once, but there is and island below the falls. These important revisions were not effected in the three later editions of this book published in Washginton D.C., also in 1850; nor are similarly annotated copies known. It is therefore very likely that the present book is the only record of alterations to his report that Cross intended to make. Howes C-923 ("c"); Streeter sale 3057; Sabin 17660; Wagner-Camp 181:2.Octavo (240 x 163 mm). With 36 plates, 3 of which are folding, and a folding map (foxing, map browned, map and one folding plate both torn in two and with small losses). Contemporary quarter cloth and boards, spine lettered in gilt (well rubbed, joints showing, excision from front free endpaper). Custom chemise and quarter morocco slipcase. Provenance: Osborne Cross (authorial annotations throughout).
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