Private Collection
The current owner reports that the owner’s parents acquired the volume at a Sun City, Arizona, estate sale in 1985. It later descended within the family. The estate’s identity and all ownership before 1985…
Provenance Chain
Unidentified prior owner → estate sale, Sun City, Arizona, 1985 → seller’s parents → by family descent → current private owner
Provenance Narrative
The current owner reports that the owner’s parents acquired the volume at a Sun City, Arizona, estate sale in 1985. It later descended within the family. The estate’s identity and all ownership before 1985 remain unresolved.
Mounted Reviews and Humboldt Material
Mounted contemporary newspaper reviews and the Humboldt letter facsimile survive on maroon endpapers. One review states a four-hundred-copy edition. Its text matches the Philadelphia Gazette review reprinted in the Daily National Intelligencer, April 29, 1859, p. 2. The physical clipping probably comes from the Philadelphia printing; its missing masthead prevents confirmation.
Why This Copy Matters
The original spine substantially survives; ownership before the family’s 1985 acquisition is unrecorded.
Sources and Documentation
eBay listing photographs and seller correspondence; acquisition and physical examination by the current owner; current-owner photographs.
