4to (10 1/2 x 8 1/4 ins.; 270 x 208 mm).  Half-title, engraved portrait frontispiece, dedication leaf, 3 folding engraved maps, the first with routes colored by hand, errata leaf at end; some minor offsetting. Contemporary half calf and marbled boards, spine with red morocco label and gilt-stamped ship device.

Howes M133; Sabin 43415

FIRST EDITION of this key overland, an epic journey preceding that of Lewis And Clark by a decade.  "A fascinating account of the descent of the river now named after this intrepid explorer, who was the first white man to navigate its length from its source in the Great Slave Lake to its mouth in the Arctic Ocean, and the first European to see the Arctic Ocean from Canada. He completed his journey of 2,990 miles in 120 days... Mackenzie's investigations, although pursued at so early a period of Arctic exploration, were remarkable for their accuracy; Sir John Franklin more than once expressed his surprise at being able to corroborate their correctness in his own explorations several decades later. This is the first and finest edition of one of the most important of Canadian books" (Hill).