420 



[1809.] " The Travels of Cap'^ Lewis and CJar]<e, from St. Louis, by 

 icay of the Missouri and Columbia rivers, to the Pacific Ocean ; per- 

 formed in the years 1804, 1805, and 1806, by order of the government of 

 the United States, containing delineations of the manners, customs, relig- 

 ion, &c. of the Indians, compiled from Various Authentic Sources, and 

 original Documents, and a Summary of the Statistical View of the Indian 

 N^ationSjfrom the official communication of Meriwether Lewis. Illustrated 

 with a Map of the Country, inhabited by the Western Tribes of Indians' 

 8vo,])p. ix and 309. London, 1S09.''' 



This publication, which I have not seen, is said by Rees to contain 

 " the principal part of Captain Lewis's Statistical View of the Indian 

 Nations of Louisiana [i. e., of the West at largej, together with Dr. 

 Sibley's Account of the Indians on the Arkansaw, &c., and Mr. Dunbar's 

 and Dr. Hunter's Account of the Washita Elver." Mr. Eees continues : 

 "As far as relates to Lewis and Clarke's Travels, this work is not, how- 

 ever, what it pretends to be, for it contains no further account of them 

 than was given in the above message [i. e., President Jefferson's], and 

 some private letters of Captain Clarke, addressed to his friends before 

 and after his return. But, in other respects, it is of considerable value, 

 the other documents inserted in it being curious, and contained in no 

 other English publication." 



The corresponding American edition, in 12mo, of 1809, which is not 

 noticed by Field, but of which I have several copies before me, is as 

 follows : — 



[1809.] The | Travels \ of\ Capts. Lewis tO Clarke, | by order of the | 

 Government of the United States, | performed in the years 1804, 1805, ds 

 180G, I being upwards of three thousand miles, from \ St. Louis, by way 

 of the Missouri, and \ Columbia Eivers, to the \ Pacificic Ocean: \ Con- 

 taining an Account of the Indian Tribes, who inhabit \ the Western part 

 of the Continent unexplored, \ and unTcnoum before. | With copious delin- 

 eations of the manners, cus- | toms, religion, &c. of the Indians. \ Com- 

 piled I From various authentic sources, and Documents. \ To which is 

 subjoined, \ A Summary of the Statistical View of the Indian | N'ations, 

 from the Official Communication of \ — | Meriwether Leiois. \ — | Em- 

 bellished icith a Map of the Country inhabited by | the Western Tribes of 

 Indiayis, and five Engravings \ of Indian Chiefs. \ — | Philadelphia : 

 Published by Hubbard Lester. | . . . . | 1809. | Price — 1 dollar 02 J 

 cts. I 



One vol., 12mo,pp. i-xii, 13-300, jjH- 5? map, and tail-piece {scroll and 

 pen.) {Copyright dated April 17, 1800.) 



The composition of this wretched little meretricious compilation is of 

 the most thoroughly motley character, showing that the art of book- 

 making was highly developed at least as early as 1809. In the first 

 place, the typography of the title-page is ingeniously so arranged as to 

 make it appear, at first sight, that Meriwether Lewis is the author. 

 The title-page is followed by Lester's copyright. Then comes the 

 "recommendation" from President Jefferson, artfully twisted into a 

 recommendation of the book itself. A mutilated version of Jefferson's 



