Description
The first edition of The Prairie Traveler: A Hand-book for Overland Expeditions by Randolph B. Marcy, published in 1859.
Twelvemo, xiii, 340pp. Publisher’s brown cloth, title in gilt on spine. Rubbing to tips of the spine, some loss of brown cloth at the heel of the spine. Solid text block. From the library of Frederick Charles Todd, with two of his bookplates. Complete with frontispiece, wood-engraved illustrations, and a folding map at rear. Map in very good condition, one outer hinge starting, otherwise clean. An important western guidebook, widely used by emigrants on the overland trails.
(Graff 2676) (Howes M279) (Wagner-Camp 335) (Rader 2347)
Published by authority of the War Department. Marcy, a captain in the United States Army, prepared this practical guide for emigrants, soldiers, and overland travelers crossing the western plains. The work includes advice on wagons, teams, provisions, camp organization, river crossings, finding and purifying water, avoiding stampedes, treatment of animals, prairie dangers, and itineraries of the principal routes between the Mississippi River and the Pacific.
