8vo. ix, [3], 391, [3], 32pp advertisements. With two folding maps, one hand-coloured in outline, and a terminal errata leaf. Original publisher's blind-decorated green cloth, titled in gilt. Slightest of rubbing to extremities, small chip to fore-edge of lower board, else a fine copy. Occasional spotting/marking, else clean and crisp. From library of John Scott, 3rd Earl of Eldon with his armorial bookplate to verso of FFEP and a fragment of paper with his name and address ('Hamilton Place') tipped in following FFEP.

A handsome copy of one of the most significant titles on the subject of the Oregon boundary dispute, arguing, perhaps unsurprisingly given the author Travers Twiss' (1809-78) academic and legal standing in England, in favour of the British claims over the territory in the Pacific Northwest. In so doing, Twiss outlines the history of the discovery and exploration of the area, with reference to the voyages of Drake, Vancouver, Broughton, Gray and Meares, amongst others. The initial establishment of the 49th parallel as the border between the United States and British North America, largely in line with the claims upheld in this work, followed its publication by a matter of months as the Oregon Treaty, which was ratified by the U.S. Senate in June of 1846.