FRANKLIN, JOHN, Sir Franklin (John). Narrative of a Journey to the Shores of the Polar Sea, in the Years 1819, 20, 21, and 22 ... With an Appendix on various subjects relating to Science and Natural History.
London: John Murray, 1823. First edition, first issue (with 768 pp). Period brown calf, rebacked, all edges marbled. 10 1/2 x 8 1/4 inches (26.5 x 21 cm); i-xvi, 768 pp. (i.e. including the half-title); 30 engraved plates including 11 hand-colored aquatints, 4 folding maps at rear. Rebacked to style as noted, some offsetting from plates and occasional minor foxing to same, in all a handsome copy. Ravensworth Castle bookplate (Henry Thomas Liddell, first Earl of Ravensworth).

Sir John Franklin's account of his first voyage to the Arctic. The expedition was to survey the area from Hudson Bay to the north coast of Canada, eastwards from the mouth of the Coppermine River, in order to establish the route of the Northwest Passage. The exploring party was almost constantly in a state of near-starvation: game was scarce, supplies were intermittent, and there was little help available from the fur-traders and Native people, as the winter of 1819 was exceptionally harsh. Eleven of his party of nineteen died, most on the return, and there were rumors of murder and cannibalism. Objectively, the journey was a disaster. For all that, Franklin returned to London in 1822 a hero, his shortcomings ignored, and this narrative became an enduring classic of travel literature. Arctic Bibliography 5193; cf. Abbey Travel 635 and Sabin 25624 for the second issue (sometimes referred to as an edition), with 784 pp. (Sabin also incorrectly cites 34 plates).

C The Collection of Jay I. Kislak sold to benefit the Kislak Family Foundation

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