United States exploring expedition.
Subtitle: During the year 1838, 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842.
By: Under the command of Charles Wilkes, U.S.N...
Contributors: Wilkes, Charles, 1798-1877.; U.S. Congress.
Publisher: Printed by C. Sherman
Published: 1844
Place of publication: Philadelphia
Language: eng
Number of pages: 21
Subjects: Scientific expeditions; Pacific Ocean; Antarctic regions; Northwest Coast of North America
Notes: Atlas accompanying v. 1-5: 33x25 cm.; v. 23: 69x55 cm.

Half-title: United States exploring expedition.  By authority of Congress.

Vol. 10, Atlas, has imprint: New York, G. P. Putnam; London, Putnam's American agency [n.d.]

Published under act of Congress of Aug. 26, 1842, which provided: "That there shall be published...an account of the discoveries made by the Exploring expedition under the command of Lieutenant Wilkes...which account shall be...published in a form similar to the voyage of the Astrolabe, lately published by the government of France."

By the same act, the edition was limited to 100 copies...

The publication was never completed. Five volumes are unpublished: v. 18 Botany, by Asa Gray; v. 19, Geographical distribution of animals and plants, by Charles Pickering; v. 21-22, Ichthyology, by Louis Agassiz; v. 24, Physics, by Charles Wilkes.

Vol. 19 was partly printed, and left in sheets...

Volumes of unfinished plates - some of them in proof before lettering - are found, without t.-p. or other printed matter. The Library of Congress has two such volumes: one of 71 pl. (4 col.) from the atlases to Botany, and one of 32 col. pl., 28 of which belong to the unpublished v. 21-11, Icthyology, and 4 to v. 12, Mollusca and shells.

Vol. 8 was first published as Mammalia and ornithology, by Titian R. Peale...Philadelphia, Printed by C. Sherman, 1848. This volume was later suppressed and replaced by the one by John Cassin.

Also issued online.

Vol. 4-5 Plates, cop.4, bear the stamp of the James Prendergast Library in Jamestown, NY, which confirmed that this title is not in their collection.

ANALYTICS DONE FOR V. 1-8, 15-16, 20.

LIBRARY HAS FOR COP.1: v. 1-5, 1-5 Atlas, 6, 8, 15, 15 Atlas, 16, 16 Atlas, 17, 17 Atlas, 20, 20 Atlas; FOR COP.2: v. 4; FOR COP.3: v. 1-5, 1-5 Atlas; FOR COP.4: v. 4-5 Plates; FOR COP.5: v. 7, 7 Atlas.

Cop. 4 consists of only the illustrations from v. 4 and 5.

Cop.1: Atlas maps for v. 1-5 are located in Ref Maps.

Cop. 3-4: Fred O. McMillan Collection.

Some nos. issued as reprint editions.