NARRATIVE OF A SECOND EXPEDITION TO THE SHORES OF THE POLAR SEA, IN THE YEARS 1825, 1826, AND 1827.INCLUDING AN ACCOUNT OF THE PROGRESS OF A DETACHMENT TO THE EASTWARD, BY JOHN RICHARDSON.

This work is mainly devoted to the accounts of Richardson and Franklin during their explorations of the Mackenzie River region of the Canadian Northwest, although it contains a brief narrative of the explorations of Thomas Drummond in the Canadian Rockies. The plates, which are fine engravings by Finden after drawings and sketches by Lieut. Kendall and Capt. Back, depict the Mackenzie Basin and the Arctic Ocean. "The beauty of the typography is rivaled by that of the engravings, each of which is a splendid specimen of art. Nine of these illustrations represent some incident in the intercourse of the explorers with the Esquimaux" - Field. The handsome maps include "Route of the Expedition A.D. 1825, from Fort William to the Saskatchewan River."; "Route of the Expedition from York Factory to Cumberland House.in 1819 & 1820"; "Route of the Expedition from Isle a la Crosse to Fort Providence, in 1819 & 1820"; "Route of the Land Arctic Expedition.from Great Slave Lake to Great Bear Lake River."; and "The Discoveries of the Expedition.Near the mouth of the Mackenzie River, and on the Sea Coast East & West." The Streeter copy was bought by Goodspeed's for $175 in 1969, acting as agents for Frank Streeter. At his sale in 2007 it went to an online bidder for $5040. A handsome copy of an important book in the history of Canadian exploration. WAGNER-CAMP 35:1. ARCTIC BIBLIOGRAPHY 5198. FIELD 561. GRAFF 1407. LANDE 1182. PEEL 88. SABIN 25628. STREETER SALE 3699. Thick quarto. Modern half tan morocco and marbled boards, spine gilt with raised bands, gilt leather label. Modern endpapers. Old and almost invisible institutional blind stamp on titlepage and dedication leaf. Occasional light offsetting from plates, else quite clean internally. Near fine.…