To the South Seas (inscribed to his great aunt)
Philadelphia: Winston, 1930. First edition. Hardcover. An association copy, inscribed on the blank recto of the frontispiece: "To Aunt Mary, with warm affection and every good wish from Gifford Pinchot." On the illustrated map of the front free endpaper is her cursive ownership signature: “Mary Phelps Montgomery." With her bookplate also on the pastedown. She was the daughter of a Governor of Missouri and her sister was Lucy Jane Phelps, Gifford Pinchot's maternal grandmother. Mary Jane Phelps married a Pennsylvanian railroad builder, James Montgomery, who built the Northern Pacific line to Tacoma. In 1873, Mary famously made a two-day "mad dash" on horseback to Portland to secure payroll money for workers on the line. A good story, and a nice association. Pinchot was the first head of the United State Forest Service and later the Governor of Pennsylvania. This book tells of Pinchot's scientific voyage with other naturalists on the schooner Mary Pinchot to Tahiti, the Marquesas, and the Galapagos in cooperation with the U.S. National Museum. Dark blue buckram with gilt illustration and lettering. 250 illustrations, two colored plates, and five maps in the interior. Very good plus with a little edge wear and bumping to a few corners. In a very good jacket with a little loss to corners and spine crown, but clean panels. Very good / Very good. Item #1773
Price: $950.00 save 5% $902.50