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4to., (11 6/8 x 10 inches). Letterpress title-page and 22 folding lithographed maps with original blue colour wash marking the water (some persistent wormholes throughout, a bit browned in the folds). Original half red roan by Lovell, with his bookseller's ticket on the front paste-down (very worn with loss to the backstrip, unevenly faded). Provenance: with the ownership inscription of explorer Amiel Weeks Whipple (1818 - 1863), at the head of the title-page, his sale Doyle New York, 23rd April 2012, lot 115 Atlas volume containing maps of the explorations on the north shore of Lake Huron and eastward to the Ottawa, between the east shore of Lake Huron and the Ottawa River, and plans of Bonne-Chere, Madawaska and Shawashkong Rivers and the sources of the Ottonabee. Issued to accompany the combined official reports of 1853-1856. In 1842 the Canadian Government instituted a geological survey of Canada under Sir William E. Logan, after whom Mount Logan in Canada is named: "Sir William Edmond Logan was indeed an extraordinary man. Starting a major career at the age of 44, he organized, directed, and contributed in a substantial way for more than a quarter of a century to the Geological Survey of Canada. Logan stated: "The object of the Survey is to ascertain the mineral resources of the country," and the survey still operates on this principle. Subsequent to 1855 he saw the development of a major copper-producing area in the Eastern Townships, where the Acton Mine was said to be the largest copper mine in the world in its time. The Geological Survey's greatest contribution during Logan's tenure as director was producing reports and maps, which established the fundamentals of Canadian geology; especially important were those for the north shore of Lake Huron and Lake Superior where rich beds of copper, nickel, uranium, iron, platinum, and other metals occur in the ancient rocks of the Precambrian" (Dictionary of Canadian Biography online). FROM THE LIBRARY OF AMIEL WEEKS WHIPPLE, who is best known for his work with the Mexican Boundary Survey team in preparation for the first transcontinental railroad route to the Pacific Ocean, near the 35th parallel. On completion of his monumental report he was ordered to Detroit, Michigan, where he was in charge of the 10th Light-House district of the upper and lower lakes and the improvement of the waterways and the ship channel over St. Clair Flats and through Lake George and St. Mary's River, Michigan, within the territory that extended from Lake Superior to Ogdensburg on the Saint-Lawrence River. During his tenure in this post the Southern Confederacy undertook to secede from the Union. Captain Whipple was immediately ordered to report to Washington where he was sent to Virginia to survey as much of the unknown territory as possible, often under enemy fire. (Francis R. Stoddard, for the Oklahoma Historical Society). Sabin 10546.
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