1872 Ship Canal Via Tehuantepec w Maps PROVENANCE DR MUDD John Wilkes Booth

Description: Attention Collectors! 1872 First Edition Reports of Explorations and Surveys to Ascertain the Practicability of a Ship Canal Between The Atlantic and Pacific Oceans by way of The Isthmus of Tehuantepec Here is an antique hardcover book that would be a fantastic addition to a collection! You are bidding on a terrific, historically important, antique hardcover book titled: REPORTS OF EXPLORATIONS AND SURVEYS, TO ASCERTAIN THE PRACTICABILITY OF A SHIP-CANAL BETWEEN THE ATLANTIC AND PACIFIC OCEANS, BY THE WAY OF THE ISTHMUS OF TEHUANTEPEC. By Robert W. Shufeldt. Made under the Direction of the Secretary of the Navy. Printed in Washington by the Government Printing Office, 1872. This is the scarce and collectible First Edition. The book is about proposed area for a canal to be built, but it was ultimately built elsewhere, at Panama. What makes this book even more historically important is the fact that it has provenance of the Mudd family. Dr Samuel Mudd was the doctor who set the broken leg of John Wilkes-Booth. He had broken his leg when he jumped to the stage just after assassinating President Abraham Lincoln. Dr. Samuel Mudd was tried, convicted and imprisoned for conspiring with John Wilkes-Booth. The book has a bookplate from the library of Dr. Thomas Dyer Mudd, the son of Dr. Samuel Mudd. It is also signed by Richard D. Mudd, the grandson of the infamous Dr. Samuel Mudd. Mudd's grandson, Dr. Richard Mudd, tried unsuccessfully to clear his grandfather's name from the stigma of aiding John Wilkes Booth. In 1951, he published The Mudd Family of the United States, an encyclopedic two-volume history of the Mudd family in America, beginning with Thomas Mudd who arrived from England in 1665. A second edition was published in 1969. Following his death in 2002, Dr Mudd's papers, which detail his attempts to clear his grandfather's name, were donated to Georgetown University's Lauinger Library, where they are available to the public in the Special Collections Department. Richard Mudd petitioned several successive presidents, receiving replies from presidents Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan. Carter, while sympathetic, responded that he had no authority under law to set aside the conviction; Reagan, that he had come to believe that Samuel Mudd was innocent of any wrongdoing. In 1992 Representatives Steny Hoyer and Thomas W. Ewing introduced House Bill 1885 to overturn the conviction, but it failed while in committee. Mudd then turned to the Army Board for Correction of Military Records, which recommended that the conviction be overturned on the basis that Mudd should have been tried by a civilian court. The recommendation was rejected by Acting Assistant Secretary of the Army William D. Clark. The book has 151 pages of text. It is a large size book, measuring approximately 12" high and 9 1/2" wide. It has many fold-out maps and full page illustrations. Some of the rivers explored are Coatzacoalcos, Chicapa, Ostuta, Corte, Monetza, etc. The report includes Geology, Minerology, Climate, Health, Insects, etc. Map #1 is detached and some of the maps have closed tears at fold. The spine looks newer and may have been replaced at some point. The color map (#18) has staining. The book shows some general wear and remains in good condition. Richard Mudd wrote "To the Detroit Public Library" perhaps intending to give the book as a gift, but there is no evidence that that ever happened. This is a wonderful, historically important book and a must-have for any collection! A very collectible, one-of-a-kind opportunity to own something from the Mudd family! Would make a terrific addition to a collection. (Inventory: Box 13) Track Page Views With Auctiva's FREE Counter

Price: 599.99 USD

Location: Glenmoore, Pennsylvania

End Time: 2024-11-25T00:31:26.000Z

Shipping Cost: N/A USD