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Mullan, Captain John. [Robert Brown 1842- 1895]. Miners and Travelers' Guide to Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado via the Missouri and Columbia Rivers. [important Association Copy Vancouver Island]. Wm. M. Franklin., New York, 1865.

Price: US$903.18 + shipping

Description: 8vo, Lacking the Map. 153pp. [small top margin stain towards rear.] original blind-stamped green cloth. Captain John Mullan (1830-1909) American explorer, road builder, lawyer: worked to fill in the details of the geography of the upper Rocky Mountain region that was known only in outline before the 1850s. This is an excellent important association copy being and fully inscribed to the front free endpaper by the Scottish explorer Robert Brown F.R.S F.R.P.S. Commander Ist. V.I. Victoria, Vancouver Island. Brown arrived in Victoria on May 6.1863. His first expedition was to Great Central Lake, Sproat Lake, Alberni Inlet, and Nootka Sound. Subsequently, he travelled on the Olympic peninsula (Washington) and up the Fraser River. Brown's Scottish sponsors were dissatisfied with the seeds he sent back from these expeditions, and he was dismayed that they considered him a mere seed collector rather than a botanist. He further antagonized his patrons by accepting in May 1864 the position of commander and government agent on the Vancouver Island Exploring Expedition (VIEE,) organized by a committee of prominent Victoria businessmen and funded in part by the colonial government under Governor Arthur Kennedy. Brown's relationship with the committee became uneasy when he realized that its members were primarily interested in the discovery of gold. The expedition succeeded in crossing Vancouver Island at several points, in some instances by new routes. From Cowichan Lake, Brown led a group down the Nitinat River to Whyac along a route approximating the one travelled by Joseph Pemberton in 1857, while another party followed a more arduous route from Cowichan Lake to Port San Juan. Subsequently, Brown and a few others went from Comox to Alberni via Comox Lake and Great Central Lake; another group had the harder task of journeying from Nanaimo to Alberni via the Nanaimo Lakes. The expedition lasted from June 7 to October 21, 1864 and covered an estimated 1,200 miles. The most celebrated achievement of the expedition was its discovery in July of gold on a river that the explorers named after Peter Leech, the second in command. Ironically, this find, which led to the establishment of Leechtown, was made when Brown had briefly left the party and returned to Victoria in order to clarify his relationship with the organizing committee. Brown himself valued more highly the discovery of coal on a river near Comox that was named after him. Although the discovery proved of no immediate commercial value, it was an early indication of coal in the region. Brown's Scottish sponsors continued to be dissatisfied with his dispatches of seeds, and they did not grant his request that his three year contract be renewed. Prior to its termination, Brown travelled in Washington Territory, Oregon, the Queen Charlotte Islands, and northern Vancouver Island. On August 2, 1866, when he was about to leave Vancouver Island, the Daily British Colonist and Victoria Chronicle described him as "a valuable man, who has done more towards exploring its unknown regions, unfolding its natural resources, and drawing attention to the latent wealth of the Island, than any other man in it." Brown's writings on the northwest coast are diverse. Vancouver Island; exploration, 1864 (Victoria, [1865]), a twenty-seven page official report outlining the expedition's route and fixing place-names, was followed in 1869 by "Memoir on the geography of the interior of Vancouver Island," a work which appeared only in German and for which Brown was awarded a doctorate by the University of Rostock (German Democratic Republic) in 1870. Brown had planned to write in addition a popular account of the expedition, illustrated with drawings made by its artist, Frederick Whymper, but he found the market glutted by other accounts of exploration. He published articles ranging from reports on the botany, ornithology, and geology of the area he explored to sketches of life in colonial society. Excellent Copy.

Seller: HALEWOOD : ABA:ILAB : Booksellers :1867, PRESTON, United Kingdom

Mullan, Captain John, Late Superintendent of the Northern Overland Wagon Road, and Commissioner of Northern Pacific Railroad, Prepared by. Miners and Travelers' Guide to Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and Colorado. / Via the Missouri and Columbia Rivers. / Accompanied by a General Map of the Mineral Region of the Nothern Sections of the Rocky Mountains (MAP IS VERY-GOOD-PLUS, STILL FIRMLY ATTACHED). Published by Wm. M. Franklin (for the author), New York, 1865.

Price: US$1325.00 + shipping

Condition: Very Good

Description: In original dark green cloth-covered boards with foliate blind-stampings to board corners, with gilt titles to spine. 1865 date to title page matches copyright date; no later dates found other than Previous Owners' pencil notations, to wit: penciled notation to pale yellow front pastedown indicate this copy was "bought for $25 at auction 1929," possibly "In Cowan," accompanied by a small label which could indicate this volume comprised auction lot 942. under which previous owner Joseph P. Ruit (?) has signed and dated "12-22-45." The enormous, 2-by-3-foot folding multi-color map, very-good-plus and still firmly secured at rear, will not fit on our scanner bed; we post some partial scans. There are some minor, circular brown stains evenly spaced along the spine of the rear endpapers and the final few blanks, possibly corresponding to the placement of the binding threads beneath. Westward Travel, Americana. 153 pp., reduced from $1,970.

Seller: Cat's Curiosities, Pahrump, NV, U.S.A.

MULLAN, Captain John.. Miners and Travellers' Guide to Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado. Via the Missouri and Columbia Rivers.. Published by Wm. M. Franklin, New York, 1865.

Price: US$1750.00 + shipping

Description: 135 pp. Accompanied by a General Map of the Mineral Region of the Northern Sections of the Rocky Mountains. 12mo, publisher's blue-green blind-embossed cloth, gilt-lettered at the spine. First edition. Howes M-885. Small old ink numerals on the title page; spine a little sunned with the gold lettering dulled: a beautiful unworn copy. The map is fine.

Seller: Jeffrey H. Marks, Rare Books, ABAA, Rochester, NY, U.S.A.

Mullan, John. Miners And Travelers Guide To Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, And Colorado Via The Missouri And Columbia Rivers. Accompanied By A General Map Of The Mineral Region Of The Northern Sections Of The Rocky Mountains Prepared Captain John Mullan, Late Superintendent Of The Northern Overland Wagon Road, And Commissioner Of Northern Pacific Railroad. WM. M. Franklin, N.Y., 1865.

Price: US$1750.00 + shipping

Condition: Very Good

Description: Original brown decorative blindstamped and embossed cloth, very slight wear, small faded spot on front cover, 153 pages, large fold-out map (looks like it was never opened.) Howes M8785, Graff 2933, Wagner Camp 418.

Seller: Old West Books (ABAA), St. Robert, MO, U.S.A.

Mullan, John. Miners and Travelers' Guide to Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and Colorado Via the Missouri and Columbia Rivers Accompanied by a General Map of the Mineral Region of the Northern Sections of the Rocky Mountains. Wm. M. Franklin, New York, 1865.

Price: US$2000.00 + shipping

Condition: Good

Description: Original brown cloth boards with gilt lettering on spine; includes hand-colored fold out map titled "General Map of the North Pacific States and Territories Belonging to the United States and of British Columbia, Extending from Lake Superior to the Pacific Ocean and between Latitude 39 and 53 North. Exhibiting Mail Routes, Gold Mines and including the most Recent Surveys of the Topographical Bureau. Prepared by Captain John Mullan, late Superintendent of Northern Pacific Military Wagon Road & Commissioner of the Northern Pacific Rail Road." Map measures 39" X 25" when unfolded. Volume is housed in a modern clamshell box with gilt lettering on spine. Boards have light wear to corners, minor loss at head and foot of spine, gutters are cracked but binding is still tight; endpapers have light chipping, a few leaves have light foxing; map has light toning and a few ¼" or less closed tears at folds, overall very good. "In advising emigrants entering the Pacific Northwest, Captain Mullan furnishes a day-by-day itinerary of the route from Fort Benton, on the Missouri River, through the mountains to Walla Walla in Washington Territory. After these directions he continues with a general description of the resources of the entire region " (Wagner Camp 421a). A nicely preserved copy with a bright, clean map. ; 12mo 7" - 7½" tall; 153 pp

Seller: Back of Beyond Books, Moab, UT, U.S.A.