# Is "Notes of a Military Reconnoissance, from Fort Leavenworth, in Missouri, to San Diego, in California" by William H. Emory a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Notes of a Military Reconnoissance, from Fort Leavenworth, in Missouri, to San Diego, in California by William H. Emory (Wendell and Van Benthuysen, printers, 1848) is identified by: Washington: Wendell and Van Benthuysen, 1848, octavo, collating [1]-7, 8-614 pages, with 64 lithographed or engraved plates, three battle plans, and two folding maps, bound in original black cloth.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Washington: Wendell and Van Benthuysen, 1848, octavo, collating [1]-7, 8-614 pages, with 64 lithographed or engraved plates, three battle plans, and two folding maps, bound in original black cloth
- This full collation combines Emory's own reconnaissance report with the appended reports of Lieutenant J. W. Abert, Colonel P. St
- George Cooke, and Captain A. R. Johnston, and corresponds to the House of Representatives printing (Executive Document No
- 41, 30th Congress, the printed pricet session), of which 10,000 extra copies were ordered on February 17, 1848
- A separate Senate printing (Executive No
- 7, 30th Congress, the printed pricet session, ordered December 16, 1847, with 1,000 additional copies) is also dated 1848 and is commonly cited as omitting the three appended reports, so the page count and table of contents -- not the title page alone -- should be checked to identify which congressional issue is in hand
- Publisher imprint reads Wendell and Van Benthuysen, printers

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | William H. Emory |
| Publisher | Wendell and Van Benthuysen, printers |
| Year | 1848 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Washington: Wendell and Van Benthuysen, 1848, octavo, collating [1]-7, 8-614 pages, with 64 lithographed or engraved plates, three battle… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
Washington: Wendell and Van Benthuysen, 1848, octavo, collating [1]-7, 8-614 pages, with 64 lithographed or engraved plates, three battle plans, and two folding maps, bound in original black cloth. This full collation combines Emory's own reconnaissance report with the appended reports of Lieutenant J. W. Abert, Colonel P. St. George Cooke, and Captain A. R. Johnston, and corresponds to the House of Representatives printing (Executive Document No. 41, 30th Congress, the printed pricet session), of which 10,000 extra copies were ordered on February 17, 1848. A separate Senate printing (Executive No. 7, 30th Congress, the printed pricet session, ordered December 16, 1847, with 1,000 additional copies) is also dated 1848 and is commonly cited as omitting the three appended reports, so the page count and table of contents -- not the title page alone -- should be checked to identify which congressional issue is in hand. Emory's survey along the Gila River is a foundational document for the later Gadsden Purchase boundary through southern New Mexico and Arizona.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
The Ross Calvin-edited "Lieutenant Emory Reports" (University of New Mexico Press, first published 1951, reprinted in paperback 1968) is a modern annotated re-edition of Emory's report and is not a printing of the 1848 first edition.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Notes of a Military Reconnoissance, from Fort Leavenworth, in Missouri, to San Diego, in California* by William H. Emory a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/notes-of-a-military-reconnoissance-from-fort-leavenworth-in
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.