Report Upon the Colorado River of the West, Explored in 1857 and 1858 by Lieutenant Joseph C. Ives, Corps of Topographical Engineers, Under the Direction of the Office of Explorations and Surveys, A.A. Humphreys, Captain Topographical Engineers, in Charge. By Order of the Secretary of War (Senate. 36th Congress, 1st Session, Ex. Doc.)
Washington: Government Printing Office, 1861. First edition. Hardcover. 131+14+154+30+[7]+31 pp. (in five parts with appendices). Quarto [29 cm] Rebound in grained black buckram with gilt stamped title on the backstrip. Two maps present at front of volume (one map is detached). Both maps have six inch closed tears. Very good. Faint rubbing to corners. May require extra shipping charges due to weight. Item #50584
This is the first book to deal with the Colorado River specifically. The Ives report is also one of the first descriptions of the Grand Canyon (Big Canon of the Colorado), and of the area's native inhabitants. Ives expedition predated John Wesley Powell's expedition by a decade. Lacks the oft-missing laid-in geological maps, else complete with all plates, maps, wood cuts and panoramic views. Includes seven colored plates of the Indians of the southwest. "...the report is one of the most desirable books in the Colorado River field" - Francis P. Farquhar. Howes I94. Wagner/Camp 375. Wheat 947-948. Farquhar 21. Flake 4287.
Price: $800.00