Report of the United States Geological Exploration of the Fortieth Parallel Made by Order of the Secretary of War

The monumental efforts of Clarence King’s 40th Parallel Survey, including a volume donated to Yale by King himself!

In the years following the American Civil War, the Federal Government made it a priority to explore and understand the western composition of the newly reunified United States. Proper development and management of the vast natural resources, namely mineral wealth, in the public domain was a top concern and in 1867 Congress authorized the first expedition “in which geology would be the principal objective” (USGS).

Part of this gigantic survey, led by 25-year-old Clarence King, was to follow the route of the transcontinental railroad (then under construction) along the 40th parallel from Wyoming and Colorado through Nevada and southern Idaho into California. The efforts of the surveying party were among the ‘Four Great Surveys’ of the American West prior to the inception of the United States Geological Survey, of which King was the first director. It pioneered the use of photography in geologic surveying, identified dozens of new species of plants and animals, and laid the groundwork for subsequent settlement and development of the region. The results of the Fortieth Parallel Survey can be seen in these seven volumes and supplemental atlas, issued in Washington, D.C. by the Government Printing Office between 1870 and 1880.

Vol I: Systematic Geology (Clarence King, 1878) – xii +803 pp. bound in green cloth with embossed spine. 26 plates, mostly color, and 12 maps. Contemporary owner’s signature on title page. Front hinge is cracked and the contents show light spotting, but overall in near fine condition.
Vol II: Descriptive Geology (Arnold Hague and S.F. Emmons, 1877) – xiii + 890 pp. bound in original green cloth with embossed spine and 25 plates reproduced from O’Sullivan’s photographs. Boards are scuffed and moderately worn along the spine and edges. Contents are generally quite good, with light toning. Withdrawn from Yale University Library, with bookplate ‘Compliments of Clarence King’
Vol III: Mining Industry (James Hague, 1870) – xv + 647 pp. bound in original green cloth with scuffed corners. Shows skillful repairs along a dirty embossed spine and new endpapers. Contents are near fine and include 33 plates.
Atlas Accompanying Volume III on Mining Industry (Juliue Bien, c. 1875) – Bound in original green Morocco and cloth boards with gilt title. Spine and corners are rubbed. Endpapers and title page show moderate foxing and offsetting, but the maps are in very good condition. Minor soiling and faint spotting confined primarily to the margins on a few, but most are near fine. Complete, with 14 with steel engraved maps in beautiful hand color.
Volume IV: Ornithology and Paleontology (F.B. Meek, James Hall and R.P. Whitfield, Robert Ridgway, 1877) – Bound in original green cloth with embossed spine. Boards are slightly worn and scuffed, but in good shape overall. xii + 667 pp. and 2 page index. Toned endpapers and broken gutters, but otherwise contents are in good condition. Withdrawn from Yale University Library, with bookplate attributing the donation to Mr. Clarence King himself in 1878.
Volume V: Botany (Sereno Watson, 1871) – Bound in original green cloth with embossed spine, slightly scuffed and worn. lii + 525 pp. and 40 plates, some folding and in vibrant color. Very good condition, with small bookseller’s stamp on the front endpaper.
Volume VI: Microscopical Petrography (Ferdinand Zirkel, 1876) – Bound in original green cloth with embossed spine that shows minor wear near the top and bottom. xv + 297 pp. and twelve color plates. Very good condition, with two small bookseller’s stamp on the front endpaper.
Volume VII: Odontornithes (Othniel Charles Marsh, 1880) – Bound in original green cloth with embossed spine that shows minor wear at the top and bottom. xv + 201 pp. and 34 plates broken into two separate parts.

Sources: Bartlett, Great Surveys of the American West; U.S.G.S.; Smithsonian Institute