The U.S. Astronomical Expedition to the Southern Hemisphere During the Years 1849-'50-'51-'52

Washington: U.S. House of Representatives, 1855. Hardcover. Good. Volume I - Chile: Its Geography, Climate, Earthquakes, etc. Folding panoramic view of Santiago nearly 6 ft. in length. Folding map of Chile in three sheets. Ten full page plates: map, plans, views, one color portrait of Araucanian chief. Volume II - The Andes and Pampas: Minerals, Indian Remains, Mammals (Spencer F. Baird), Birds (John Cassin), etc. Illustrated with color plates (3 of Indian artifacts, 15 of birds), b&w plates, woodcuts, maps. Bound in decorated original brown cloth. Outer rear hinge of Volume I starting. Damps stain to top edge of many pages of Volume I. Cover scrape to Volume II with backstrip partially reglued, foreedge dampstain to the first few pages. Two additional volumes, principally covering astronomical observations, were published (not included here). Spencer Baird and John Cassin were contemporaries and friends, Baird at the Smithsonian and Cassis at the Academy of Natural Sciences. Both were eminent naturalists of the 19th century and made major contributions to science based on their museum work. Cassin, in particular, classified the birds collected on U.S. expeditions to many parts of the world. A thoroughly interesting work with a unique selection of maps and plates.