Contributions of Philadelphia to Lewis and Clark History
Part II-- Postlude (1807- 1814)
by Paul Russell Cutright

1. Lewis returns to Philadelphia in 1807 to find a publisher

When Meriwether Lewis first visited Philadelphia, it was early May,1803. He was then a relatively unknown army officer with the rank of Captain.When he next visited Philadelphia, four years later, he came as a foremost explorer, and as the governor of Louisiana Territory, Thomas Jefferson having recently appointed him to that elevated position.

It is impossible to establish a chronology of Lewis's appointments in Philadelphia during his second visit, one lasting at least three months, from sometime in April to near mid-July, 1807. However, since he came primarily to seek a publisher for his and Clark's journals, later titled History of the Expedition Under the Command of Captains Lewis and Clark, he may well first have gone to the offces of John Conrad, the printer with whom he soon signed a contract. A prospectus shortly released informed the public that the forthcoming publication would be in two parts, the first (of two volumes) containing the narrative and the second (of one volume) the natural history.