BELTRAMI, Giacomo Constantino (1779-1855). A Pilgrimage in Europe and America, leading to the Discovery of the Sources of the Mississippi and Bloody River; with a Description of the Whole Course of the former, and of the Ohio. London: Hunt and Clark, 1828.

2 volumes, 8vo (210 x 130 mm). Engraved frontispiece in vol.I, 3 plates, 3 folding maps and plans, 1p. errata in vol.I. (Frontispiece and plates with minor marginal chipping or trimming, some light spotting and toning.) 19th-century blue half calf, marbled boards, spines gilt with brown morocco lettering-pieces gilt, top edges gilt (some light wear, spines slightly darkened). Provenance: Dudley Bell Priester (1923-2017), Mississippi River collector and bibliographer (sold Bloomsbury, 20 November 2009, lot 62).

FIRST EDITION IN ENGLISH, preceded by the first edition in French, published in New Orleans in 1824. Beltrami, a member of the Long Expedition and a political refugee from Italy, traveled up the Mississippi River as well as the Red River to what is now Minnesota in their search to find the source of the Mississippi River. His writing is evocative. "He had much to say of the aborigines, and expatiates upon the natural history and scenery of the region he visited with intelligence and enthusiasm" (Tuckerman). After tension arose with Major Long, Beltrami continued his search alone. He discovered Lake Julia and claimed it was the source of the Mississippi River. The first edition met with harsh criticism, to which the preface to this edition responds by adding 2 letters, one describing western Pennsylvania and the other his ocean voyage. Buck 181; Howes B-338; Monaghan, pp.10-11; Rusk, The Literature of the Middle Western Frontier, p.89; Sabin 4605; Tuckerman, America and Her Commentators, p.342; Wagner-Camp 26a:2 (with p.545 misnumbered 54 as the present copy).

Property from the Collection of Perry B. Hansen

BELTRAMI, Giacomo Constantino (1779-1855). A Pilgrimage in Europe and America, leading to the Discovery of the Sources of the Mississippi and Bloody River; with a Description of the Whole Course of the former, and of the Ohio. London: Hunt and Clark, 1828.