In 1791, Captain George Vancouver is given a great opportunity to gain fame and fortune-sail to the Pacific coast of North America and explore the coastline for the long-sought Northwest Passage back across the continent while taking possession of the vast territories of northwest America from the Spanish. Four years later, he returns home to dismissal and ridicule. He dies three years later at the age of forty, a sickly, impoverished man desperately trying to complete the publication of his journals. What happened? Now, there are two large collections of rare books related to the early...

In 1791, Captain George Vancouver is given a great opportunity to gain fame and fortune-sail to the Pacific coast of North America and explore the coastline for the long-sought Northwest Passage back across the continent while taking possession of the vast territories of northwest America from the Spanish. Four years later, he returns home to dismissal and ridicule. He dies three years later at the age of forty, a sickly, impoverished man desperately trying to complete the publication of his journals. What happened? Now, there are two large collections of rare books related to the early...