  We use scanning tunneling microscopy to study the lithium purple bronze
(Li$_{0.9}$Mo$_{6}$O$_{17}$) at room temperature. Our measurements allow us to
identify the single-crystal cleave plane and show that it is possible to obtain
clean cleaved surfaces reflecting the crystal structure without the
complications of nanoscale surface disorder. In addition to the crystal
lattice, we observe a coexisting discommensurate superlattice with wavevectors
q = 0.5a* $\pm$ 0.25b*. We propose that the origin of the superstructure is a
surface reconstruction which is driven by cleaving along a crystal plane which
contains in-plane MoO$_{4}$ tetrahedra connected to out-of-plane MoO$_{6}$
octahedra through corner-sharing oxygens. When combined with spectroscopic
measurements, our studies show a promising avenue through which to study the
complex physics within Li$_{0.9}$Mo$_{6}$O$_{17}$.
