The Oregon Trail by Francis Parkman, Illustrated by Wyeth and Remington, 330/950

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The Oregon Trail by Francis Parkman, Illustrated by Wyeth and Remington, 330/950

$850List Price

About the Item

Parkman, Francis. The Oregon Trail: Sketches of Prairie and Rocky-Mountain Life. Illustrated by N.C. Wyeth and Frederic Remington. Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1925. Limited edition, hand-numbered 330/950. Octavo. In the publisher's original hardcover buff boards with red spine, illustration to front board and gilt titles to spine, top edge gilt and deckled edge. With a new archival cloth slipcase. Presented is a 1925 printing of Francis Parkman’s The Oregon Trail: Sketches of Prairie and Rocky Mountain Life. This book was published in Boston by Little, Brown, and Company, and is expertly illustrated by both Frederic Remington and N.C. Wyeth. Nine hundred and seventy five copies of this special Wyeth-Remington edition of The Oregon Trail were printed, of which nine hundred and fifty were sold. This book is hand-numbered “330” in the edition. The Oregon Trail: Sketches of Prairie and Rocky Mountain Life is a first-person account of Parkman’s two-month summer trip through what is now Nebraska, Wyoming, Colorado, and Kansas. It was initially serialized in twenty-one installments in Knickerbocker's Magazine from 1847 to 1849 and then subsequently published as a book in 1849. The book was one of the most influential narratives of the American frontier, so widely read that it went through six printings within the first ten years of publication. Only 23 at the time of his expedition, a young Francis Parkman left St. Louis in April of 1846, traveling along the Oregon Trail. His first stop was the fur trading post of Fort Laramie. Turning south, he followed the eastern edge of the Rockies to the trading post at El Pueblo, on the banks of the Arkansas River, before he returned via the Santa Fe Trail. During his trip, he spent several weeks hunting buffalo and living with the Oglala Sioux, noting their habits and customs. He also met with a number of famous frontiersmen during his expedition, including Jim Beckwourth. Equal parts travelog, adventure story, and history, Parkman’s book is celebrated as “the classic account of the emigrant journey to the Rockies” (Grolier, American 58). Rittenhouse notes that “Although generally considered to be only an Oregon Trail item, the last part of this work describes a journey by Parkman down the Arkansas River and along the SFT in 1846, during which he met U.S. military units marching west.” An incredible and celebrated success, Field states, "Mr. Parkman had all the genuine love of adventure of a frontiersman, the taste for the picturesque and romantic of an artist, and the skill in narration of an accomplished raconteur. It is not too high praise of his work to say that his pictures of savage life are not excelled by the narratives which had their birth in the personal experience of Washington Irving, or the imagination of Fenimore Cooper." This 1925 edition is collectible for its illustrations by two powerhouse artists, Frederic Remington and N.C. Wyeth. As stated in the book’s preface, this “edition of The Oregon Trail affords an opportunity for contrasting the illustrative appeal it has had for two great American artists, working in different mediums.” The photogravures in this edition are reproduced from drawings made by Frederic Remington in 1892, for the first illustrated edition of this American classic. Remington’s pictures are “as full of truth as of spirit, for they are the work of one who knew the prairies and the mountains before irresistible commonplace had subdued them.” The color plates are from paintings by N. C. Wyeth. According to the preface, when Wyeth was asked by the publishers to make these paintings, he wrote to them: "This title has been much on my mind for several years and I have been planning for some time to approach you hoping to induce you to let me do it ...The Oregon Trail has always been deep in my blood. I feel very much stirred to interpret my dreams into pictures." Combined, these two illustrators energize Parkman’s epic tale of exploration, bringing to life the majesty of the great plains and the drama of early western travel. Although born, raised, and educated on the East Coast, Frederic Remington (1861-1909) achieved considerable success as America’s leading illustrator of life on the western frontier. His career took off in the mid-1880s when he began making western illustrations for Harper's Weekly and many other widely-read New York magazines. Accompanying both factual news reports and colorful fictional tales, Remington's pictures delighted and informed an East Coast populace hungry for information of the new frontier. Remington traveled west repeatedly, and greatly admired the rough and intrepid cowboys and soldiers he met there. Remington produced over 3,000-signed works. Most of them were illustrations, but as he grew older, he turned away from the publishing world and accomplished masterful paintings and drawings. Newell Convers Wyeth (1882–1945) is considered one of America's greatest illustrators. He was the pupil of artist Howard Pyle and created over 3,000 paintings over his lifetime. He also illustrated many books, primarily for publisher Charles Scribner's Sons, which accelerated his career. Wyeth became known for a superb sense of color and his complex compositions. He had a talent for accentuating the palpable, dramatic tension inherent in the stories. “Wyeth's valiant and heroic characters created prototypes of our American heroes, which have lasted to set the standard for movie, television, and computer game heroes.” (National Museum of American Illustration). CONDITION: Very good condition overall. Octavo. In the publisher's original hardcover buff boards with red spine, with illustration to front board and gilt titles to spine, top edge gilt, and deckled foreedge. Boards are clean, with only minimal bumping to the red spine. Limited edition, hand-numbered “330” of 950 on the limitation page. The interior pages are clean, with light paper stabilization. Illustrated throughout by photogravures by Frederic Remington and color plates by N.C. Wyeth. All plates are accounted for. The color is bright and attractive, with little fading. The book is presented with a new archival red cloth slipcase with inlay. Book Dimensions: 9 3/8" H x 6 1/2" W x 1 5/8" D. Slipcase Dimensions: 9 3/4" H x 6 3/4" W x 2 1/8" D. Accompanied by our company's letter of authenticity.

Creator:
Francis Parkman (Author),Wyeth (Artist),Frederic Remington (Artist)
Dimensions:
Height: 9.75 in (24.77 cm)Width: 6.75 in (17.15 cm)Depth: 2.13 in (5.42 cm)
Materials and Techniques:
Paper
Place of Origin:
United States
Period:
1920-1929
Date of Manufacture:
1925
Condition:
Additions or alterations made to the original: New archival slipcase by Felton Bookbinding Ltd. in Ontario, Canada, in July of 2025. Repaired: Archival paper stabilization. Restoration by Felton Bookbinding Ltd. in Ontario, Canada, in July of 2025. Wear consistent with age and use.
Seller Location:
Colorado Springs, CO
Reference Number:
Seller: BK12181stDibs: LU909745787532

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