First Across the Continent: Sir Alexander Mackenzie

Toronto: M & S, 1997. First ed., first printing (full number line). Octavo in black boards; 232 pp: illustrations, maps, portraits; 23 cm Near fine thus; boards smooth, clean, and glossy; pages crisp; portrait cello taped to paste-down endpaper; binding firm. Lacks jacket. Hardcover. ISBN: 0771034067

Mackenzie (1764–1820) was a Scottish explorer and the first European to cross the North American continent north of Mexico. In the service of the North West Company, he undertook two major expeditions: in 1789 he descended the great river that now bears his name to the Arctic Ocean, and in 1792–93 he traveled west from Lake Athabasca across the Rocky Mountains to reach the Pacific coast at Bella Coola, completing the crossing overland. Mackenzie later published Voyages from Montreal (1801), a work of lasting geographical importance, and was knighted for his achievements; his explorations significantly advanced European knowledge of western Canada and reshaped the commercial and imperial ambitions of the fur trade era.