Exploration of the Valley of the Amazon, Made under Direction of the Navy Department, William Lewis Herndon and Lardner Gibbon Published by A.O.P. Nicholson, Washington, D.C., 1853, 1854. Part I by Lieut. Herndon. Part II by Lieut. Lardner Gibbon. U.S. Congress, 32nd and 33rd Congress Session. Two volumes and two cased map sets. Volume 1 By Lieut. Herndon. 417pp. with 16 tinted lithographed plates, 2 appendices. Part II by Lt. Lardner Gibbon. x., 339pp. with 36 lithographed plates. Maps Part 1, Herndon: 3 colour folding maps. Maps Part 2, Gibbon: 2 colour folding maps. New pockets to Herndon’s map case with inked names of maps to front of pocket. Maps are in very good condition; Herndon’s maps are backed with light protective coating; light foxing to Gibbon’s maps primarily near margins. Volumes are in very good condition; light foxing; a loosened signature in Volume 2. Moderate wear to boards and sun fading to spine of Volume 2.
Herndon was appointed to lead the first American naval expedition to explore the Amazon River valley and its tributaries between 1851-2. The expedition combined scientific observation on geography, natural history and Aboriginal populations along with commercial assessments as directed by the Navy and Congress. Herndon divided the expedition into two groups: he appointed Lt. Lardner Gibbon to explore the tributaries while he would explore the Amazon River from source to mouth. Herndon’s narrative provided an intimate portrait of an exotic land before the outside world rushed in. His report “so far surpassed his superiors’ expectations that instead of printing the obligatory few hundred copies for Congress, the secretary of the Navy ordered 10,000 copies in the first print run; three months later, he ordered 20,000 more.”
