OHIO & MISSISSIPPI RIVER HISTORY KENTUCKY LOUISIANA RARE 1810 F CUMING WESTERN TOUR/VOYAGE TRAVELOGUE 1ST Start Price USD 2,499.99 Current Price USD 2,499.99 Time Left 6 days 11 hours 18 minutes Bid Count 0 Buy It Now Price - Reserve Price - Start Time Saturday, October 18, 2008 End Time Friday, January 16, 2009 Location West Des Moines, Iowa See more about 'OHIO & MISSISSIPPI RIVER HISTORY KENTUCKY LOUISIANA ' Description twenck Store RARE AMERICANA 1810 OHIO MISSISSIPPI LOUISIANA HISTORY Description: SKETCHES OF A TOUR TO THE WESTERN COUNTRY Through the States of Ohio and Kentucky; A Voyage Down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, and a Trip Through the Mississippi Territory, and Part of West Florida. Commenced at Philadelphia in the Winter of 1807, and Concluded in 1809. With Notes and an Appendix, Containing some interesting Facts, Together With a Notice of an Expedition Through Louisiana. By FORTESCUE CUMING Description: 504 pages - Complete - 1st Edition - In Original full tan leather binding. Gilt ornamentations on Spine unbelievably still bright with red morroco leather label still intact with gilt title "Western Tour". Book Size: 12mo - Museum Quality Piece - One of the best copies of this title available in original binding. Ahearn prices this book at $3000.00 and states higher value if in original binding. One of the most interesting works relating to the West. Cuming, originally from Ireland, undertook his tour in 1807 and 1808.  A very rare account of one of the most notable early trips down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers to New Orleans and environs.  Cuming provides descriptions of the townships and surroundings through which he passed and of the pioneers he met. The appendix includes narratives of great importance, including an 18th century account of Louisiana, many of which were published here for the first time. See Photos for table of contents. Condition: I will attempt to describe in detail the condition of this extraordinary and original work. Spine: Leather label is intact with gilt title "Western Tour" visible. The middle of the label just above the O in the word Tour is beginning to fade and break down. There are some very small circular pits on the upper right corner of label. The label still has gilt horizontal lines on the top and bottom with the bottom showing more wear than the top. The label is exactly 1 inch in height. There are 4 gilt horizontal lines across the spine with the top and bottom showing the most signs of wear but still visible. There is considerable wear at base of spine with the bottom front and back hinge beginning to fray. The top of spine is in better shape but has begun to wear at top right corner of spine. There are 4 gilt ornaments on the spine which are all visible with the top two being the most visible and bright, while the lower two are more worn. (Its amazing the gilt can still be seen on such an antiquated book). There is a small section on the upper right hingeline of spine that has turned black, and it travels across the front upper board by about 1/2 of an inch. Boards: The front board has some surface issues on upper left where some of the cover has deteriorated. This is near the black section described above. All edges are considerably worn with rounding of the corner on the front right corner and the rear board lower left corner. This same rear board corner appears to have approximately 1.25" length of the edge worn down so you can see the inside of the board trough the covering. There are various small pits on both front and rear boards but most are on upper rear. The inside hinges on both front and back are tight and intact. Text: The text block is yellowed and shows foxing throughout. The pages are uniform with some folding at the very tips of the corner on just a few pages. Some creasing on a few pages but all present and complete with no text missing or unreadable. I did find on page 120 a notation at the very bottom of the page with notes about a dinner party mentioned on this page in the book. Other than this instance I did not find any other markings. Title page is clean.   Please Note: We take extra care in shipment and handling of the books we sell and this rare book will be wrapped in acid free tissue, bagged, and gently packed in a Brodart Clam-Shell archival book box. This will be also packaged with great care so during shipment no damage occurs. I will of course require insurance on this item. Please see photos and if you do have further questions I will be glad to answer.   Bibliographic Details Publisher: Cramer, Spear & Eichbaum - Pittsburgh, PA                             Publication Date: 1810 Binding: HardCover - Original BindingBook Condition: FAIRDust Jacket Condition: None Edition: Unstated 1st Edition Place a Bid!