Narrative of the United States Exploring Expedition. During the years 1838, 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842..

The substantial narrative of the massive official American expedition, one of the three great Antarctic voyages of the 1840s. This fine set is an example of the edition of 1000 sets printed of the public edition, which was preceded by the very rare quarto official and unofficial editions, printed in just 100 and 150 copies respectively, many of which were subsequently destroyed, and consequently today almost unknown on the market. Later editions, including the second 1845 octavo edition, are smaller in size, are generally of inferior quality and do not include the fine steel-engravings found here. This is thus the much preferred edition for the collector of voyage or Antarctic material.

The explorations of Wilkes along with the English under Ross and the French under Dumont d'Urville form the basis for today's territorial claims in the Antarctic, and together established the knowledge of the frozen continent on which all subsequent expeditions built. While the greatest significance was the expedition into the Antarctic in the winter of 1839-40, with Wilkes being the first to announce the existence of an Antarctic continent, the expedition's other great achievements included the detailed study of the flora and fauna of the many countries visited, the scientists making frequent and long excursions into the interiors.

The expedition explored the South Pacific Islands, Australia and New Zealand, the Hawaiian Islands, the Northwest Coast, California, Singapore, the Cape of Good Hope and St. Helena. Two of its most notable achievements were the extensive survey of the American Northwest coast and the exploration of some 1500 miles of the Antarctic coast, "thereby proving the existence of the seventh continent. Equally important, the Expedition collected and described natural history specimens from all parts of the globe — specimens that eventually came to the fledgling Smithsonian Institution, making it the National Museum of the United States. In a wider sense, the Expedition led to the emergence of the United States as a naval and scientific power with worldwide interests...". ('Magnificent Voyagers. The U.S. Exploring Expedition', ed. H.J. Viola and C. Margolis, Smithsonian Institution, 1985, p.9).