Narrative of the Arctic Land Expedition to the Mouth of The Great Fish River, and Along the Shores of the Arctic Ocean, in the years 1833, 1834, and 1835.
London: John Murray. 1836. 8vo. 22cm, (tall copy), The First Edition, x,[1], 663,4,8p., publisher's ads, both dated May, 1836, with 16 engraved plates and a rear folding map, bound in the publishers original diamond grain brown cloth, gilt spine titles in gilt decorated frame border, all the plates and their tissue guards are foxed with attendant transfer to the page before and after, the folding map is clean, mainly uncut, the binding is fine which is unusual for this book and copies containing the publisher's ads are rare. Item #42284
We have had many copies of this book but only 1 comparable, (with ads, and being 22cm tall), that being the Beekman Pool copy in Catalogue 172. Of eighteen listings online only two mention ads., however several do not give a collation. Hill 42. A.B. 851. T.P.L. 477. Lande 935. Sabin 2613. Wagner- Camp 58b:1. Streeter 3705. - Back, who had been on both Franklin expeditions, was sent out to locate Ross, who had been unreported through three winters. News of Ross's safe return reached Back in April 1833 and he then pursued the expedition's secondary objectives. These were, firstly, to navigate the length of a river supposedly arising in the neighbourhood of the Great Slave Lake and running north to the Arctic Sea, and then, secondly, to map as much as possible of the sea-coast. He was successful in both objectives, travelling 7,500 miles in total and traversing the full 440-mile length of the river (known as Thlueetessy' by the First Nations). The Great Fish River, as Back named it, has since become known as The Back River.
Price: $2,500.00