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Wright, Charles; Gray, Asa : Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge. Plantae Wrightianae Texano-Neo-Mexicanae (Two Parts in One Volume)

Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.

Two parts, complete. Fourteen black-and-white plates, complete. Beautiful purple, orange, and white marbled paper-covered boards backed with orange-brown leather. Gilt lettering on black leather spine label. All edges marbled. 10" x 12 3/4." Part I: published 1850. Part II: published 1852. Part I: Pages [1]-146, 10 plates, complete. Part II: Pages [1]-119, four plates, complete. Plates and alphabetical Index of the scientific names of plants in back of each part. Pages are very clean and intact except for light age toning throughout, occasional small spots of discoloration on pages of text, and light to moderate foxing on the plates. Covers are virtually pristine and intact except for light rubbing, a few small marks, and slight wear to extremities. Corners of the covers are sharp and not bumped. Binding is tight. A Very Good copy. This is one volume containing two parts (also listed as "Vol. III, Art. 5" and "Vol. V, Art. 6," respectively, at bottom of title pages). Part I contains "An Account of a Collection of Plants Made by Charles Wright, A. M., in an Expedition from Texas to El Paso, New Mexico, in the Summer and Autumn of 1849." Part II (has no subtitle unlike Part I), gives a similar scientific account by Wright but on his later expedition to Texas and New Mexico (El Paso is identified as being in New Mexico at this time) in the summer and autumn of 1851 and the spring and early summer of 1852. Both parts are principally Wright's descriptions of the plants he found and collected during these two expeditions in 1849 and from 1851-1852. Beautiful plates illustrate some of Wright's plant specimens. The main text by Wright is strictly about the plant specimens. None of the text is an autobiographical memoir about Wright's journey. Brief introductions by Asa Gray give background on the two expeditions at the front of both parts. Charles Wright (1811-1885) was an American botanist. He frequently worked as a specimen collector for Asa Gray (1810-1888). Gray was also an American botanist and a leading figure in his field of study during the nineteenth century. Gray made notable scholarly contributions to the natural sciences and the theory of evolution and was highly regarded by Charles Darwin who was also his friend. With the help of Gray, Wright joined a U.S. Army expedition in 1849 that traveled through parts of Texas and New Mexico. Gray's introduction gives thanks to some of the military leaders of the expedition including Captain French and Majors William Seaton Henry and Jefferson Van Horne (also spelled, "Van Horn"). On the first expedition, Wright visited places such as Galveston, San Antonio, and El Paso to collect specimens. For the latter expedition undertaken in 1851 and 1852, Gray helped Wright join the United States and Mexican Boundary Survey (referred to as the U.S. Boundary Commission herein) as initially led by Colonel Graham of the Topographical Engineers. During the summer of 1851, Wright collected specimens on a route from a San Antonio to El Paso, similar to his previous path traveled in 1849. During the late summer and autumn of 1851, Wright then traveled, as summarized by Gray, "from El Paso to the copper mines of Santa Rita del Cobre, in the southwestern part of New Mexico, and thence into the northern part of the Mexican state of Sonora, as far as to Santa Cruz, returning to the copper mines by way of Guadalupe Pass, and thence back to El Paso." Beginning in the spring of 1852, Major Emory succeeded Graham as leader of the Survey. In 1852, Wright visited El Paso; "the rancho of Frontera, and down to the Rio Grande for sixty or seventy miles; up the valley as Camp Fillmore, and thence into the Organ Mountains which bound the valley on the east"; "Lake Santa Maria and Lake Gusman in Chihuahua, the latter seventy or eighty miles southwest of El Paso"; and "from New Mexico to Eastern Texas.". Book. Book Condition: Very Good. Binding: Hardcover

1st Edition

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