Narrative of a Voyage to the Northwest Coast of America…
Narrative of a Voyage to the Northwest Coast of America in the years 1811, 1812, 1813 and 1814. Or the first American settlement on the Pacific. Translated and edited by J.V. Huntington.
New York: Redfield, 1854.
Octavo, 376, (16, ads.)pp. With a frontispiece and two plates, with tissue guards, foxed. A fine copy in publishers green cloth.
A five month trek through the Rocky Mountains
First edition in English of Gabriel Franchère's account of Astoria on the mouth of the Columbia River. While the book chiefly recounts his extraordinary overland journey of five months through the Rocky Mountains to the Red River Settlement (later Winnipeg) and thence to Montreal, it is also well-regarded for the author's account of his early and important visits to Hawaii and Tahiti en route to the northwest Pacific.
First edition in English of Gabriel Franchère's account of Astoria on the mouth of the Columbia River. While the book chiefly recounts his extraordinary overland journey of five months through the Rocky Mountains to the Red River Settlement (later Winnipeg) and thence to Montreal, it is also well-regarded for the author's account of his early and important visits to Hawaii and Tahiti en route to the northwest Pacific.
Franchère's narrative was first published in Montreal some years previously; this edition was prepared for the American public by the clergyman and sometime novelist Jebediah Vincent Huntington who patriotically proclaims the book as 'the only account by an eye-witness and a participator in the enterprise, of the first attempt to form a settlement on the Pacific under the stars and stripes.'
Franchère was a member of the party sent out by John Jacob Astor on the vessel Tonquin to found a fur trading post at Astoria, at the mouth of the Columbia River. The account of his three year stay, his inland travels, the transfer of Astor's company to the North West Fur Company of Canada in 1813 and subsequent actions of the British, forms a detailed and important document in Canadian history. Additionally, the outbound journey of the Tonquin is included, in which Franchère gives a good account of the customs and political situation of the Hawaiian islands as well as a biography of Kamehameha I.
The work is referred to as in the text as the "second edition", which is slightly misleading: the earlier edition referred to is actually the original French language edition published in Montreal in 1820.
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Provenance: Early ink signature and bookplate of Joseph Button dated 1854.
Forbes, 'Hawaiian National Bibliography', 1987; Howes, F310; Sabin, 25432; Smith, 3244; Streeter, 3691 Tweney, 21; Wagner-Camp, 16:2.
Price (AUD): $1,800.00
US$1,183.60 Other currencies