Incidents of Travel and Adventure in the Far West; with Col. Fremont's Last Expedition across the Rocky Mountains : Including Three Months' Residence in Utah, and a Perilous Trip Across the Great American Desert, to the Pacific
New York: Derby and Jackson [H. W. Derby & Co.], 1857. Good. Second Edition, 1st Printing. Ex-Lbrary [7.5x5.25in]; xv, 18-380 pp., [4] advertisements, frontispiece illustration of Astronomical Observations by Frémont and author: Original brown cloth blind stamped with gilt lettering on spine, all edges trimmed, pale red end papers; Significant shelf wear to covers with fading, stain spots and rubbing, rubbing and faded gilt lettering on spine, corners bumped and frayed, ex-library old tape stains on covers, library black stamp on title page and end papers, light water stains on front fore-edge, lacking dedication page to Mrs. Frémont removed by publisher from early issue copies per Howes, bookseller stamp on front paste down, prior owner pencil inscription on front end paper with date of July 10, 1857. [Howes C213, Wagner-Camp 273:2, Smith 1547, Cowan p108, Graff 618, Rittenhouse 107]. Item #14386
Solomon Nunes Carvalho (1815-1897) was an American painter, photographer (daguerreotypist), author and inventor. He may be best known as an explorer who traveled through the territory of Kansas, Colorado and Utah with John C. Frémont on his fifth expedition. Many famous images of the Old West are based on images he made.
The first edition of this book was issued in 1856 without a frontispiece. This book was issued with a frontispiece illustration and, due to a controversy with Frémont, the dedication page to his wife was removed after the book was bound. The portion of the dedication page is still evident in front of the preface.
In 1853, Colonel John C. Frémont, invited Carvalho to accompany him as he attempted to prove that a “central route” near the thirty-eighth parallel would be the best path for a planned transcontinental railroad. During the trip, despite the frigid weather which made chemical combinations difficult, Carvalho made near daily portraits of expedition members, the Native Americans they met, and the landscape. The expedition was difficult and many of the members were ill from scurvy, starvation and frostbite. When the members recovered, Frémont split the expedition to continue travel to California along northern and southern routes. Carvalho was with the southern party and reached Los Angeles through the Cajon Pass. A major part of his nearly 300 daguerreotypes taken during the expedition were lost in a fire. The surviving ones would later be given by Frémont to Mathew Brady and they became mixed up with others of Brady's work.
Price: $125.00