Description of a View of the North Coast of Spitzbergen, Now Exhibiting in the Large Rotunda of Henry Aston Barker's Panorama, Leicester-Square; Painted from Drawings taken by Lieut. Beechey who Accompanied the Polar Expedition in 1818 and Liberally Presented Them to the Proprietor.
London. Printed by James and Charles Adlard, 1819. 1st Edition. 8vo, 21cm, The First Edition, 12p., plus folding view, page 12 chipped half way across at the top margin with 6 lines affected, disbound, otherwise very good to fine, the folding plate is fine, disbound, rare. Rare polar-themed ephemera relating to Barker's panorama in Leicester Square. This was a popular attraction, visited even by John Keats who was left tongue-tied. He wrote to his brother the month of its opening, "I have been very much pleased with the Panorama of the ships at the North Pole with the icebergs, the Mountains, the Bears, the Walrus the seals the Penguins and a large whale floating back above the water it is impossible to describe the place" (Letters 1814-1821, p. 95). The illustration in question was a double-decker panorama which was the first floor. On the second floor was the view of Petersburg depicted in the accompanying print. These plate illustrations could be purchased separately from the guide. There was another issue of the guide in 1820. Item #37912
Price: $800.00 save 25% $600.00