1882 USGS Dutton Tertiary History of GRAND CANYON Monograph v. 2 Original 1st ed

When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

1882 USGS Dutton Tertiary History of GRAND CANYON Monograph v. 2 Original 1st ed:
$375.00

Rare original copy of thisearly USGS classic - one of the most beautifully written and illustratedgeological reports ever published about the American West

Tertiary History of the Grand Canyon District

(Atlas lacking)

U. S. Geological Survey Monograph II

Clarence E. Dutton, USGS, Washington: Government Printing Office, 1882

First edition, Quarto,264 pp. with 42plates (some folding, many with tissue guards), including two chromolithographic views (Smithsonian Butte and Kanab Desert); one double page colorgeologic map of the Grand Canyon; scenic heliotype views from photographs; numerous folding lithographic panoramas by W. H. Holmes; and fine full page woodcut engravingsfrom drawings by Thomas Moran and W. H. Holmes. In originalbrown cloth rebacked in similar colored clothwith original spine title laid down. Color lithography by Julius Bien, NY, T. Sinclair & Son, Philadelphia, and heliotype illustrations by Heliotype Printing Co., Boston.

Condition:
Ex-library copy (Geographisches Seminar Liepzig) with library numbers on all preliminary sheets; ink stamps on title page, blank corners of a few pagesand versos of some plates; and old hand lettered paper label on lower spine. Complete with all plates as issued. Rubbing/light scuffing to covers and wear toedges, especially corner tipswhich have worn through to boards.Original spine title sunned with gilt faded.Binding tight and covers well attached. Internally,the book is generally quite clean (excepting library markings).Overall, a good copy that would make a fine addition to any collection of western Americana.

Contents:
The first monograph published by the USGS (Gilbert\'s Lake Bonneville, MonographI, was delayed until 1890),Tertiary History of the Grand Canyon is considered by many to beits most distinctive and enduring work. Along with J. W. Powell, Dutton virtually defined the meaning of the Grand Canyon for American civilization by formulating a new aesthetic for its startlingly beautiful scenery. His Grand Canyon monographis the best known of his Colorado Plateau works, all of which aredistinguished by marvelous prose, esthetic imagination, and conceptual grace. As a scientific writer, he was one of the clearest, most impressive and entertaining America has produced. With Powell and G. K. Gilbert, Dutton\'s work on the Grand Canyon (and Colorado Plateauin general) established him asa founder of thescience of geomorphology (DSB and DAB).

In a rare blend of exceptional prose and art, Dutton\'stext ismatched equally by thequality of illustrations drawn by W. H. Holmes and Thomas Moran. William Goetzmann has called W. H. Holmes \"the greatest artist-topographer and man of many talents that the West has ever produced...his artistic technique was like no other\'s. He could sketch panoramas of twisted mountain ranges, sloping monoclines, escarpments, plateaus, canyons, fault blocks, and grassy meadows that accurately depicted hundreds of miles of terrain. They were better than maps and better than photographs because he could get details of stratigraphy that light and shadow obscured from the camera...his illustrations for Dutton\'s Tertiary History of the Grand Canyon District are masterpieces of realism and draftsmanship as well as feats of imaginative observation.\"

Thomas Moran, like Dutton, isforever connected with the Grand Canyon for his striking oil paintings (e.g. The Chasm of the Colorado) and drawings of awe-inspiring canyon scenes. His monumental pictures of naturally dramatic sites and his easel paintings that evoke a land of perpetually pristine beauty shaped popular perception of the West in the late 19th and early 20th. Dutton\'s Grand Canyon monograph contains nine Moran drawings (see photos for examples).