The Literature of the Lewis and Clark Expedition is divided into seven sections: the expedition’s traveling library of scientific, technical, and cartographic materials (1754–1804); related congressional documents and early notices (1803–7); editions of Patrick Gass’s journal (1807–1904); surreptitious accounts (1809–46); the Biddle-Allen narrative of the expedition and other edited editions (1814–2001); nineteenth-century publications (1803–1905); and twentieth-century publications (1906–2001).

In each section introductory historical essays by Stephen Dow Beckham survey the large cast of characters who have contributed to the expedition story since the last years of the eighteenth century: legislators, scientists, explorers, journal writers, editors, publishers, printers, illustrators, cartographers, and collectors. The bibliographies for each section list all known publications related to the expedition, with fully annotated descriptions of primary texts. The book is lavishly illustrated with images from Lewis and Clark College’s collection: title pages, contemporary engravings, maps, contemporary newspaper reports, and manuscript journals.

Stephen Dow Beckham is Pamplin Professor of History at Lewis & Clark College and the author of such books as Requiem for a People: The Rogue Indians and the Frontiersmen and Many Faces: An Anthology of Oregon Autobiography. Doug Erickson is Head of Special Collections, Jeremy Skinner is an assistant archivist, and Paul Merchant is an editorial assistant, all at Lewis & Clark College.

Discover our entire collection of Lewis & Clark books here.

Visit the Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition Online Edition.