[ROSS, John]. -- BRAITHWAITE, John (1797-1870). Supplement to Captain Sir John Ross's Narrative of A Second Voyage in the Victory, in Search of a North-West Passage containing the Suppressed Facts necessary to a proper understanding of the causes of the failure of the steam machinery of the Victory, and a just appreciation of Captain Sir John Ross's character as an officer and a man of science. London: Chapman and Hall, 1835. [Bound with:] ROSS, John (1777-1856). Explanation and Answer to Mr. Braithwaite's Supplement... London: A. W. Webster, 1835.]

2 works bound in 1, 4to (269 x 204 mm). Modern green calf-backed marbled boards.

FIRST EDITION. Ross set out on his second voyage in 1829 in the Victory, a small paddle-steamer with boilers fitted by Messrs. Braithwaite and Ericsson. He was accompanied by his nephew James Clark Ross, a purser, a surgeon and 19 men. Ross sought a passage south from Regent's Inlet but was unable to break through the ice and wintered in Felix Harbour in 1829-1830. The Victory made little progress south in the following summer and was abandoned in May 1832, beset by ice. Ross and his party wintered at Fury Beach and were rescued by a whaler, Ross's old ship the Isabella. Ross attributed the failures largely to the shortcomings of the boilers supplied by Braithwaite, an experienced engineer who had designed the first practical steam fire engine. Ross's criticisms led to a series of vituperative exchanges with Ross countering in print (as contained here), itemizing Braithwaite's and the engine's shortcomings and its defects in power, material and workmanship. The matter was never amicably settled but Victory's engines did prove unsuited to the job. (See also following lot.) Arctic Bibliography 2074 (Braithwaite) & 14862 (Ross); Sabin 7360 (Braithwaite).


Estimate $2,000-3,000

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