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Sunday, July 13, 2003

By Bob Hoover, Post-Gazette Book Editor

On President Jefferson's charge, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark diligently charted their journey to the Pacific in notebooks. Adding the writings of five other expedition members, the groundbreaking trek to the Pacific was reported in 1.5 million words, making it one of the most detailed adventures in American history.

However, following a two-volume assessment by Pennsylvanian Nicholas Biddle in 1814, the writings were largely ignored until the 20th century and did not reach a wider audience until 1953, with historian Bernard Devoto's interpretation, "The Course of Empire."

That audience increased with the late Stephen Ambrose's 1996 best seller, "Undaunted Courage," a biography of Lewis.

The definitive edition of "The Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition" was completed in 2001, edited by Gary E. Moulton and published by the University of Nebraska Press in 13 volumes.

For the bicentennial of the expedition, Nebraska has issued an abridgement of the journals, also edited by Moulton. "An American Epic of Discovery: The Lewis and Clark Journals" is illustrated with maps and facsimiles of several original pages. It's $29.95.

Other nonfiction books on the expedition published this year include:

"Exploring Lewis and Clark: Reflections on Men and Wilderness" by Thomas Slaughter (Knopf, $24) is a revisionist view of the cultural implications of the trip.

"The Lewis and Clark Companion" by Stephenie Ambrose Tubbs with Clay Straus Jenkinson (Holt, $30) is a concise encyclopedia helpful as a quick reference.

"A Wilderness So Immense: The Louisiana Purchase and the Destiny of America" by Jon Kukla (Knopf, $30) tells the history of the intrigues behind the property deal that brought about the expedition.

"Dear Brother: Letters of William Clark to Jonathan Clark" edited by James J. Holmberg (Yale University Press, $35), contains six letters written by Clark to his brother during the expedition.

Several works of fiction are tied to the expedition. They include:

"This Vast Land: A Young Man's Journal of the Lewis and Clark Expedition" by Stephen E. Ambrose (Simon & Schuster, $17.95) will be published posthumously in September. Ambrose's only fiction attempt, it is aimed at the young adult market.

"The True Account: A Novel of the Lewis & Clark & Kinneson Expeditions" by Howard Frank Mosher (Houghton Mifflin, $24) is a gentle satire by Vermont novelist Mosher. This work imagines what a rival explorer might have encountered if he raced the real adventurers across the continent.

"I Should Be Extremely Happy in Your Company" by Brian Hall (Viking. $25.95) is a re-creation of the expedition through the eyes of Lewis, Clark, Sacagawea and her husband, Charbonneau.