Available Copies from Independent Booksellers
Price: US$500.00 + shipping
Description: 448 pp. 8vo, recently rebound in full calf, preserving the original gilt-lettered spine label; in a custom slipcase. Bound without ads; but probably one of 500 copies of the second printing. Battered type on pp. 436-7. Light foxing throughout; but a tight, sound copy.
Seller: Jeffrey H. Marks, Rare Books, ABAA, Rochester, NY, U.S.A.
Price: US$2500.00 + shipping
Description: Full Description: PARKMAN, Francis. The California and Oregon Trail: Being Sketches of Prairie and Rocky Mountain Life. New York: George P. Putnam, 1849. First edition, first issue, terminal catalogue B, binding A. Binding A is noted on first printing sheets only according to BAL Parkmans's name on spine without serif. Octavo (7 3/8 x 5 inches; 186 x 127 mm). [2, ads], [3]-448, [8, ads] pp., With sepia-tinted lithographed frontispiece and title-page, both by F. O. C. Darley. Publisher's green blind-stamped cloth, restored at the top and bottom of the spine. Spine lettered in gilt. Cloth at head and tail of spine a bit chipped. A bit of wear to corners. Boards a bit soiled. Inner hinges repaired. Scattered mild foxing to interior (as to be expected in an American book of this period). Some occasional soiling to leaves. Previous owner's old ink signature to front free endpaper. Overall a very good copy of the superlatively scarce first issue. Parkman's reasons for traveling the Oregon Trail in 1846 were to restore his health, as well as to learn more about Indian life and gather information that would be useful in writing the history he planned of the conflict between the French and the British in North America. The result of his travels ended up to be a very different story, one part history and two parts travel narrative and adventure story. He, along with his traveling companion Quincy Adams Shaw started their journey in New York, then across Kansas and Nebraska, and then to Fort Laramie, where Parkman went to join a band of Sioux. He lived and traveled with them in the 'Black Hills' (i.e. the Laramie Mountains). "This is the portion of the narrative which is not only the most vivid but also of greatest historical value.Parkman has given us a unique picture of life in a Sioux village before it was changed and eventually destroyed by contact with the white man." (Printing and The Mind of Man, p. 199). Due to ill health when Parkman arrived home, he dictated his account of their journey to Shaw. The first publication was serialized, beginning in February 1847 in irregular monthly episodes in the Knickerbocker Magazine under the title 'The Oregon Trail, or A Summer's Journey Out of Bounds. The title was changed by the publisher in hopes that he could capitalize on the publics interest in the California gold rush. The first edition of one thousand copies appeared in March and sold out in a month. This is one of the great literary and historical narratives of the American experience and "the classic account of the emigrant journey to the Rockies" (Grolier). This controversial text has remained a classic of the American West despite criticism directed at it. In part enthusiastic and in part pessimistic, the work offers a microcosm of the changes then taking place at the far western reaches of U.S. expansion. Particularly debated since its publication has been Parkman's view of Native Americans. Although he apparently successfully lived with a tribe of Sioux, he pronounced Native Americans a doomed people. In any case, this is the opening chapter of a highly successful literary career. BAL 15446. Grolier, 100 American, 58. Howes P97. Printing and the Mind of Man 327. Sabin 58801. Wagner-Camp 170:1b. HBS 69007. $2,500.
Seller: Heritage Book Shop, ABAA, Beverly Hills, CA, U.S.A.
Price: US$3950.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: 448 pp., This issue lacks frontis & all ads, Bound in Period Three-Quarters Brn Leather & Marbled Bds, Spine has Gilt Title & Horizontal Lines on Raised Bands, light foxing along some page edges else VG & tight, 1st ed (Howes, # P97, suggests that this "freak" variant was probably one of the 6 special copies sent by the publisher to Author") (Nice Shelf Appearance)
Seller: Larry W Price Books, Portland, OR, U.S.A.
Price: US$4500.00 + shipping
Condition: Good
Description: Points for this printing: ads 1-2 in front, 3-10 in rear; no imprint on frontis; frontis + 1/2 title illustration; no worn type on pages 436-7. Very light water stain beginning as a marginal sliver on page 130 and gradually growing to about 1/3 page by last page -- not a major defect. Some foxing, mostly to margins. About 1//2 of rear free endpaper missing. Tissue guard of frontis torn at binding. Covers generally faded and worn, spine title illegible. Small 1/2" hole at center front edge of spine. Corners bumped and worn. Binding is tight and square. ; 8vo 8" - 9" tall; 448 pages
Seller: Novel Ideas Books & Gifts, Decatur, IL, U.S.A.
Parkman, Francis. The California and Oregon Trail.. George P. Putnam, New York, 1849.
Price: US$5500.00 + shipping
Description: First edition, first printing of Parkmanâs classic account of his journey along the Oregon Trail.ÂOctavo, original cloth, tinted lithographic frontispiece and vignette half title by Felix Octavius Carr Darley. This is the scarce first issue in cloth, with ad leaf preceding the frontispiece. Publisherâs catalogue in the rear and binding with PARKMAN set in sans-serif type on the spine. A good example with the crown and foot of the spine showing wear and wear to the bottom boards, without the usual restoration. Contemporary inscription on the front free endpaper. Housed in a custom half morocco case. The California and Oregon Trail is the gripping account of Francis Parkman's journey west across North America in 1846. After crossing the Allegheny Mountains by coach and continuing by boat and wagon to Westport, Missouri, he set out with three companions on a horseback journey that would ultimately take him over two thousand miles. His detailed description of the journey, set against the vast majesty of the Great Plains, has emerged through the generations as a classic narrative of one man's exploration of the American Wilderness.
Seller: Raptis Rare Books, Palm Beach, FL, U.S.A.
Price: US$6000.00 + shipping
Description: Full Description: PARKMAN, Francis. The California and Oregon Trail: Being Sketches of Prairie and Rocky Mountain Life. New York: George P. Putnam, 1849. First edition, first issue, terminal catalogue B, binding A. Binding A is noted on first printing sheets only according to BAL Parkmans's name on spine without serif. Octavo (7 3/8 x 5 inches; 186 x 127 mm). [2, ads], [3]-448, [8, ads] pp., With sepia-tinted lithographed frontispiece and title-page, both by F. O. C. Darley. Publisher's blue-green blind-stamped cloth. Spine lettered in gilt. Corners slightly bumped. Boards and spine with sunning. Mild foxing to fore-edge of text block. Some occasional finger soiling to leaves, but otherwise text is very clean. Old bookseller blindstamp to front free endpaper. Overall an about fine copy of the superlatively scarce first issue in unrestored cloth. Housed in a blue custom cloth clamshell, by the Lakeside Press with red morocco spine label, lettered in gilt. Parkman's reasons for traveling the Oregon Trail in 1846 were to restore his health, as well as to learn more about Indian life and gather information that would be useful in writing the history he planned of the conflict between the French and the British in North America. The result of his travels ended up to be a very different story, one part history and two parts travel narrative and adventure story. He, along with his traveling companion Quincy Adams Shaw started their journey in New York, then across Kansas and Nebraska, and then to Fort Laramie, where Parkman went to join a band of Sioux. He lived and traveled with them in the 'Black Hills' (i.e. the Laramie Mountains). "This is the portion of the narrative which is not only the most vivid but also of greatest historical value.Parkman has given us a unique picture of life in a Sioux village before it was changed and eventually destroyed by contact with the white man." (Printing and The Mind of Man, p. 199). Due to ill health when Parkman arrived home, he dictated his account of their journey to Shaw. The first publication was serialized, beginning in February 1847 in irregular monthly episodes in the Knickerbocker Magazine under the title 'The Oregon Trail, or A Summer's Journey Out of Bounds. The title was changed by the publisher in hopes that he could capitalize on the publics interest in the California gold rush. The first edition of one thousand copies appeared in March and sold out in a month. This is one of the great literary and historical narratives of the American experience and "the classic account of the emigrant journey to the Rockies" (Grolier). This controversial text has remained a classic of the American West despite criticism directed at it. In part enthusiastic and in part pessimistic, the work offers a microcosm of the changes then taking place at the far western reaches of U.S. expansion. Particularly debated since its publication has been Parkman's view of Native Americans. Although he apparently successfully lived with a tribe of Sioux, he pronounced Native Americans a doomed people. In any case, this is the opening chapter of a highly successful literary career. BAL 15446. Grolier, 100 American, 58. Howes P97. Printing and the Mind of Man 327. Sabin 58801. Wagner-Camp 170:1b. HBS 69095. $6,000.
Seller: Heritage Book Shop, ABAA, Beverly Hills, CA, U.S.A.