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Report on the United States and Mexican Boundary Survey, Made Under the Direction of the Secretary of the Interior, By William H. Emory, Major First Cavalry and United States Commissioners. 34th Congress, 1st Session, Ex. Doc., No. 108., Senate. Volume I, Part I: xvi, 258 pp. 32 plates with two scenes on each, steel engravings (including frontispiece), three copper plate engravings (some folding), 13 stone engravings or colored lithographs of Native Americans, and numerous woodcuts, large folding map on page 1: United Staes and their Territories between the Mississippi and the Pacific Ocean and part of Mexico. [Bound with] Part II. Geological Reports of Doctor C. C. Parry and Assistant Arthur Schott. Notes by W. H. Emory. Paleontology and Geology of the Boundary, by James Hall, of Albany, New York. Description of Cretaceous and Tertiary Fossils, by T. A. Conrad, Esq., viii, 174 pp, 21 plates. Includes the RARE and OFTEN LACKING, large lithograph fold-out: Map Illustrating the General Geological Features of the Country West of the Mississippi River, with printed color by James hall, J. P. Lesley after Emory, 25 in-text illustrations with 21 steel plate engravings on heavy stock of paleontology. FINE & MODERN signed binding: quarter calf and marbled boards, raised bands, gilt spine lettering, hand tied headbands. 11.5 x 9", 4to. In good condition. Modern boards lightly rubbed at edges and corners. Leather spine scuffed at raised bands, but otherwise clean and presentable. Previous ownership bookplate found on fresh front paste-down: R. C. Seitz. Towson, Maryland. Binder's ink stamp found on modern front end-page, bottom edge: Bound by R. Carlton Seitz. Off-setting exhibited on title page from frontispiece; off-setting exhibited to most pages adjacent from plates. Fold-outs are all intact; most exhibit some toning around creases. Large color map found in Part II exhibits a small tear close to attachment point of text-block, map remains unimpeded (see photo #16). Normal age-related toning throughout text-block, with some instances of finger-soiling found at fore-edges. Modern binding tight and intact. Please see photos and ask questions, if any, before purchasing. William Hemsley Emory (1811-1887) was a prominent American surveyor and civil engineer of the 19th century. As an officer of the U.S. Army Corps of Topographical Engineers he specialized in mapping the United States border, and the Gadsden Purchase border, 1844-1855, and published lasting scientific reports on the border region. After the Mexican-American War, Emory was sent with a crew to survey the new United States-Mexico boundary, first from the mouth of Gila across California to the coast and then second, with the Bartlett survey from El Paso west, 1849-1853. A dispute arose among the Mexicans and Americans over the location of the starting line near El Paso caused by an error in the original map referred to in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848). A compromise by John Bartlett brought an international incident when neither side agreed to the boundary and threatened renewed hostilities in the Mesilla Valley above El Paso. A compromise was reached with the Gadsden Purchase of 1854, and Emory was selected to lead the American boundary commission to survey, 1855-1856, the new boundary line (early he had influenced the debate over approving the treaty by advising Senator Thomas Jefferson Rusk of Texas on the best route for a southern transcontinental railroad, one of the key points of the Gadsden Treaty). William Emory didn't just map the terrain, however, but he also made notes about the plant life as well as the people who inhabited the sparsely populated Southwest. VOLUME I PARTS 1 + 2 ONLY - LACKING VOLUME II. All maps and fold-outs present and intact. An extremely attractive and restored copy. Gift quality. RAREA1857RUVQ 04/24 - HK1413. Seller Inventory # RAREA1857RUVQ
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