NATIONAL INTELLIGENCER, Washington, D.C., August 17, 1807

• On the Lewis and Clark expedition
• Book prospectus advertisement

A full column of the back page is taken up with a notice headed: "Proposals, By Conrad, Lucas & Co...For Publishing Lewis and Clark's Tour to the Pacific Ocean, Through the Interior of the Continent of North America." 
This lengthy prospectus announces the proposed publication of Captain Meriwether Lewis's official account of the celebrated expedition of 1804–1806, undertaken at the direction of President Thomas Jefferson. Appearing less than a year after the explorers' triumphant return to St. Louis, the advertisement offers a remarkable contemporary preview of what was intended to become the definitive account of one of America's greatest journeys of discovery. Particularly noteworthy is the concluding printed signature: M. Lewis, directly associating the famous explorer with the ambitious publishing project.
The advertisement provides an exceptionally detailed description of the proposed three-volume work as shown in the photos. Of exceptional interest is the announcement of a separately published large map of North America, incorporating the explorers' discoveries and hundreds of astronomical observations. 
Of considerable historical importance, the monumental publication envisioned in this 1807 advertisement never appeared in its promised form. Meriwether Lewis died in October 1809 before completing his intended narrative, and the long-awaited official account was not published until 1814, when it appeared in two volumes, principally prepared by Nicholas Biddle. Much of the scientific material and the enormous separately proposed map were never issued as advertised. 
This original 1807 prospectus preserves an extraordinary record of Lewis's personal intentions for documenting the expedition, offering a fascinating glimpse of a major American publishing project that was never fully realized. An especially desirable contemporary newspaper account relating directly to Lewis and Clark, the exploration of the American West, and the earliest efforts to bring the discoveries of their historic expedition before the American public.
Note: the same advertisement, appearing in another Washington, D.C., newspaper at a similar time, sold in 2017 at a Christie's auction for $2,000.
Four pages, never bound nor trimmed, wide margins, nice condition.