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George William Featherstonhaugh (1780-1866) was a British-American geologist and the first U.S. Governement Geologist. He surveyed portions of the Louisiana Purchase and spent much of his life in the wilderness of the new nation. This geological reconaissance of the Wisconsin Territory conducted in 1835 at the direction of the Senate provides an interesting early account of the region as far as the broad plateau known as the Coteau de Prairie that lies between the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. He begins this account with a general discussion of geology. The descriptive portion of his travels actually begins with his departure from Washington and continues through the Great Lakes to Wisconsin (Sandusky, Detrioit, Mackinac, Green Bay, etc.). His Wisconsin travels took him up the Fox River from Green Bay. He then went down the Wisconsin R. to Prairie du Chien on the Mississippi. He traveled up the Mississippi to Fort Snelling on the Minnestoa River; from there he went to the Prairie. All this wilderness travel was in a birch bark canoe which he estimated took him nearly 1,000 miles. He describes the geology, topography, habitations along his route, and also Indian villages as well as historic Indian sites. There are 4 plates in rear are diagrams of a geological nature as well as "sections" of the journey (one, for example, is a section from Georgetown, DC to Greenbay, Wiscosin). Sabin indicates a map was present, but I have yet to see a copy with a map--it appears that some copies may have been bound without a map and others with a map (or 2 maps). Featherstonhaugh is also known for his later work "A Canoe Voyage Up the Minnay Sotor" which is a 2 volume expanded version of this book published in London for a British audience over a decade later (in 1847). This book is in its original embossed cloth binding with a few spots and some scattered light foxing to the contents, but it is mostly clean and bright; there is a small nick to the top of the spine. Issued also as: Senate Doc. No. 333, 24th Cong., 1st sess. Report addressed to Lieut. Col. J. J. Abert, U.S. Topographical engineers. There is a previous owner name on the title page: "E. R. Peaslee" (Edmund Randolph 1814 - 1878) who was a pioneer surgeon in women's health issues. There is also a bookplate on the front pastedown: James Torr Harmer, wgo was a railroad exeutive an noted book collector. Harmer also apperst to have placed a small bookpocket on the rear pastedown which holds three cards of bibliographic information in an old hand. This book is in the original publisher's binding and the pages are clean and bright, though there is some foxing to the preliminaries and a hint of foxing to a couple of plates. The front inner hinge is cracked exposing the hemp bands, and the front gutter is partially split. There is also a home made spine label (the book was issued without any external title information), possibly placed there by Harmer. Wear to spine ends and tips. This is an uncommon item, especially in this condition. Ref: Sabin 23963 ; 4 plates; 8vo 8" - 9" tall; 168 pages.
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