Harriman Alaska Expedition, Volumes I and II; [Volume I, 1902, by John Burroughs, John Muir and George Bird Grinnell; Volume II, 1901, by William Dall, Charles Keeler, Henry Gannett, William Brewer, C. Hart Merriam, George Bird Grinnell, and M. L. Washburn]

New York: Doubleday, Page and Company, 1901. First Edition. Very Good. [10.5x7.25in]; Vol. I - xxxvii, [1], 183 pp., [1]; Vol. II- 185-383 pp. [1], index; for both volumes combined, 39 color plates, including frontispieces, 85 photogravure images (50 by E. S. Curtis), 229 illustrations in text, 5 maps (4 in color with 2 fold out, 1 in text); Publisher forest green cloth covers with gilt lettering on spine, gilt border and illustration on front, top edge gilt, others untrimmed; Minor shelf wear to covers, edges and corners with light soiling and rubbing to edges and joints, Vol. I corners frayed with top front bumped, hinges loose, frontispiece tissue guard loose. [Howgego IV H21, Wickersham 4013, Tourville 1950] DK. The Harriman Alaska Expedition was organized and funded by Edward Henry Harriman (1848-1909) that was originally to be an extended family vacation. Harriman was a railroad developer that that bought a small railroad in 1881 and went on to acquire Union Pacific and Southern Pacific railroads with other transportation companies. He is also known for this major science based expedition in the summer of 1899 to Alaska and Siberia. Harriman asked Clinton Hart Merriam (1855-1942), a naturalist with the Department of Agriculture, to assemble an interdisciplinary team of thirty scientists, writers, artists, and photographers to study Alaska geology, botany, zoology, ornithology, anthropology and environment conditions. In May 1899, the SS George W Elder left Seattle with 126 family, friends, science team and crew for a two month expedition. Notable members were John Burroughs (writer), John Muir (naturalist), George Bird Grinnell (ornithologist and naturalist), Edward S Curtis (photographer), William Healey Dall (paleontologist and native culture), Frederick S. Dellenbaugh (artist) and others. Curtis was added to the expedition through his friendship with Merriam and Grinnell, and took over 5,000 photographs, that documented the expedition's discoveries, the natives and landscape (later, these images became part of the North American Indian 20 volume history and photographs).

Harriman was encouraged to document the trip and asked Merriam to design and edit a 12 volume publication. The first two volumes were issued in 1901-1902 and others followed to 1910 (volumes VI and VII were never written). Volumes I and II contain an overview of the expedition by Burroughs, and include important chapters on Glaciers, Natives, History, Geography and Resources. There are also over 50 images by Curtis and color illustrations by the artists. The expedition discovered over 600 new species and fossils, captured, in photographs, Alaskan natives, and added to the science and culture of Alaska and the Arctic. (Inventory #: 14258)