Herndon, Wm. Lewis; Gibbon, Lardner. Exploration of the Valley of the Amazon, made under direction of The Navy Department. Part I., by Lieut. Herndon. Washington: Robert Armstrong, Public Printer, 1853. First Edition. [12559]
Sometime rebound in brown buckram, binding very good, ex college library with name in gilt on spine, bookplate and a few ink stamps within (no stamps on the plates). Text and plates are generally clean, with some foxing to the text and offsetting from the plates. 9 x 6 inches, 415, iv, pp., 15 pp. index to the series. With 16 fine lithograph plates; counted and complete. Good. Hardcover.
32d Congress, 2d Session, Ho. of Reps., Executive, No. 43.
This document was prepared by Lieutenant Herndon before Lieutenant Gibbon had returned from the Amazon. It was later expanded into two volumes, but at the time this was printed, it was only this single volume.
"The desire expressed by the department for an early report of my exploration of the Amazon, and the general interest manifested in the public mind with regard to the same, have induced me to lay before you at once as full an account of our proceedings as can be made before the return of my companion...The final report of the expedition will be submitted as soon after Lieut. Gibbon's return as practicable." - p. 4. This early report by Herndon was issued with a map published by the Society for the Diffusion of General Knowledge, not present here.
When Lieutenant Gibbon returned he wrote the second volume, and the set was sold as a pair. The two men had split up the exploring party into two groups, to be able to explore more territory. The original group met at Lima, Peru, with Herndon and his party reaching Para, Brazil, about eleven months later, after journeying 4,366 miles.
The report covers all possible aspects of the Amazon region, and revealed geography, flora, fauna, and people to the American citizenry.
William Lewis Herndon (1813-1857), b. Fredericksburg, Virginia; d. at sea east of South Carolina. He led the US Navy's expedition to explore the region of the Amazon, a vast area uncharted by Europeans or Americans. Its purpose was to ascertain the value of the region in terms of commercial resources. His Report was an oft-cited scientific treatise and became a standard reference of the Amazon.
Herndon lost his life at sea, going down with the ship SS Central America during a hurricane in 1857, after he was able to transfer many of the woman and children to rescue vessels.
