Item #GRM0077 Voyages from Montreal, on the River St. Lawrence, through the Continent of North America, to the Pacific Oceans; In the Years 1789 and 1793. With a preliminary account of the rise, progress, and present state of the fur trade in that country. Illustrated with maps. Alexander Mackenzie.
Voyages from Montreal, on the River St. Lawrence, through the Continent of North America, to the Pacific Oceans; In the Years 1789 and 1793. With a preliminary account of the rise, progress, and present state of the fur trade in that country. Illustrated with maps
Voyages from Montreal, on the River St. Lawrence, through the Continent of North America, to the Pacific Oceans; In the Years 1789 and 1793. With a preliminary account of the rise, progress, and present state of the fur trade in that country. Illustrated with maps
Voyages from Montreal, on the River St. Lawrence, through the Continent of North America, to the Pacific Oceans; In the Years 1789 and 1793. With a preliminary account of the rise, progress, and present state of the fur trade in that country. Illustrated with maps
Voyages from Montreal, on the River St. Lawrence, through the Continent of North America, to the Pacific Oceans; In the Years 1789 and 1793. With a preliminary account of the rise, progress, and present state of the fur trade in that country. Illustrated with maps
Voyages from Montreal, on the River St. Lawrence, through the Continent of North America, to the Pacific Oceans; In the Years 1789 and 1793. With a preliminary account of the rise, progress, and present state of the fur trade in that country. Illustrated with maps
Voyages from Montreal, on the River St. Lawrence, through the Continent of North America, to the Pacific Oceans; In the Years 1789 and 1793. With a preliminary account of the rise, progress, and present state of the fur trade in that country. Illustrated with maps

Voyages from Montreal, on the River St. Lawrence, through the Continent of North America, to the Pacific Oceans; In the Years 1789 and 1793. With a preliminary account of the rise, progress, and present state of the fur trade in that country. Illustrated with maps

London: R. Noble for T. Cadell, 1801. First edition.

Quarto (10 ½” x 8 ¼”, 267mm x 210mm): binder’s blank, π2(–π1) A4 a-q4 B-Q4 r2 R–Zz4 3A-3F4 3G4 (G4 blank) [$2 signed]. 279 leaves, pp. [2] (title, blank) i-iii (dedication, blank, preface) iv-viii (5pp. preface) 2i ii-cxxviii (128pp. general history of the fur trade) 1 2-119 [1] (blank) cxxix–cxxxii 121 122–412 [4] (2pp. errata, 2pp. blank). With a stipple-engraved portrait frontispiece by Pierre Condé after Thomas Lawrence and three folding engraved maps, of which 1 is outlined in hand-color.

Bound in tree calf and rebacked in calf. On the spine, 6 panels. Authors and abridged title gilt to green sheepskin in the second panel. All edges of the text-block speckled.

Abrasions to the boards. Evenly toned with spotting throughout. Quire r (2 leaves), which closes out the general history of the fur trade, bound following quire Q. Offsetting to the portrait, maps, and pp. 264–265, where a since-perished marking ribbon was. Maps with stub tears (once repaired with tape but since re-torn). Armorial bookplate of St. Andrew Lord St. John of Bletsoe to the front pastedown. Embossed seal of Dr. Michael D. Paul’s library collection to the title leaf.


Sir Alexander Mackenzie’s (ca. 1764–1820) account of his exploration of North America is the first published account of Mackenzie’s two expeditions carried out on behalf of the North West Company, as it aimed to establish new trade routes from the over-saturated market of Hudson’s Bay. His success in these explorations made him “the first white man to cross the continent,” demonstrating his journal to be one of “surpassing interest” (Wagner-Camp). Mackenzie departed Scotland with his father in 1774, and by 1779, had secured a position with Finlay, Gregory & Co., a prominent fur trading company in Montreal. This volume offers a comprehensive history of the fur trade, alongside Mackenzie’s accounts of his travels through the continent. It also provides a glossary to several Indigenous languages. The three maps, among the earliest of this area, are: “A Map of America. . . exhibiting Mackenzie’s track from Montreal to Fort Chipewyan & from thence to the North Sea in 1789 & to the West Pacific Ocean in 1793,” “A Map of Mackenzie’s Track from Fort Chipewyan to the Pacific Ocean, in 1793” and “A Map of Mackenzie’s Track from Fort Chipewyan to the North Sea in 1789.” Hill crowns this “one of the most important of Canadian books.”

St. Andrew Lord St. John of Bletsoe (1759–1817) sat in the British House of Commons for a near 3 decades following a rigorous education. In 1780, St. John was elected Member of Parliament for Bedfordshire and served for 4 years before being unseated in favor of Baron Ongley. Not to fear, for St. John became a Baron himself upon the death of his brother in 1805, whence he dedicated his life to more leisurely intellectualism. From 1808 until his death, he was a proud Fellow of the Royal Society and Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries.

Dr. Michael D. Paul was a Canadian nephrologist, an impassioned supporter of special collections, and a dedicated patron of dealers in fine printing and rare Judaica. Through his support, the Jewish Public Library launched the Dr. Michael D. Paul Rare Books Initiative, which worked to bring its 1,500 rare texts to the public through visits to secondary schools, community centers, libraries, and synagogues. In memoriam for Dr. Paul, JPL’s director, Eddie Paul, aptly summarized the collector’s life and work, writing, “Kidneys filter and clear toxins from the blood; books help to clarify and filter the detritus the world throws at the imagination.” The present example was lot 24 at Kestenbaum & Company’s sale of Dr. Paul’s library on March 5th, 2026.

Howes M 133 (b); Hill 1063; Lande 1317; Sabin 43414; Streeter sale 3653; Wagner-Camp-Becker 1:1.

Cataloged by G.R. Murdock

Item #GRM0077

Price: $6,500

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