"The Narrative of the United States Exploring Expedition during the years 1838, 1839, 1840, 1841, and 1842", Wilkes, Charles

This is the smaller octavo edition of this important narrative of the most important American scientific expedition of the nineteenth century. This was the first U.S. Naval expedition, taking in the Northwest Coast, Hawaii, South America, the Philippines, the South Pacific, Australia and Antarctica. The expedition broke new ground in most areas of natural history, made a number of extremely important cartographic discoveries, most importantly establishing that Antarctica was a continent. They mapped 280 islands in the Pacific for the first time and included extensive and graphically rich ethnographic records of many native peoples throughout the Pacific. This edition includes 10 folding maps and 47 woodcuts illustrations. Complete in 5 volumes. Original embossed and gilt cloth covered boards. Ex-libris with ink library stamps on title pages and edges, cards on back endpapers.

References: Wheat [TMW] 457-458.

Condition: B

Some minor chips on spines. A few pencil marks throughout volumes, pencil notes inside front cover of Vol. 1, all volumes have an ink note of a gift to first owner.