First Edition, presented here in its large paper format, untrimmed. With 30 engraved plates and charts, a third of which are hand-coloured, including the large folding map of discoveries made in the Arctic region. Royal 4to, in the publisher's original binding of blue patterned muslin cloth, the spine lettered in gilt within a gilt framework label of maritime motif, binder's ad slip tipped in at front free-fly, edges untrimmed. xxxiii, 740 pp. A truly exceptional copy, as pristine and unrestored and as printed, bound and published with little evidence of wear and no evidence of any repairwork whatsoever. Several quires remain unopened, the textblock is extremely fresh, the inevitable foxing being only very occasionally evident and even then very light though a bit more prevalent at the prelims as usual, the hinges are strong and firm and the binding shows only light evidence of age, especially so for such a delicate cloth used on such a large and heavy text. A TRULY EXTRAORDINARY COPY, VERY SCARCE UNRESTORED IN THIS LARGE FORMAT AND IN THE ORIGINAL DELICATE MUSLIN CLOTH. The book is normally encountered extensively repaired at the joints and hinges, while this wonderful, large-margined copy is in excellent condition showing almost no evidence of age or wear at all. "Another of those wonderfully interesting narratives of human endurance, triumphing over the most awful peril and suffering. The sumptuous printing which makes every page a picture, has even its luxury enhanced by the splendid steel engravings and lithographs. The former are so excellent as to be worthy of preservation as gems of art.[The] appendix contains, besides the illustrations of Esquimaux life, forty-four pages of a vocabulary of the language of that people." (Field/Lesser) "As a result of the failure of his voyage in 1818, the Admiralty refused to support John Ross in a second. It was not until 1829 that the assistance of Felix Booth, the sheriff of London, enabled him to set out in the small paddle-steamer Victory with his nephew James Clark Ross as second-in-command. The expedition survived four winters in the Arctic during which James Clark Ross discovered the North Magnetic Pole. James Clark Ross edited the natural history section of the appendix and John Ross the remaining sections comprising meteorology, navigation, and ethnology." (Hill p. 261) "Despite the failure of his trip in 1818, Ross set out in 1829 in the small ship, Victory, to find a northwest passage, but the vessel had to be abandoned in 1832. Ross and his party were rescued in the summer of 1833 in Lancaster Sound. In the meantime, Capt. George Back had set out in search of Ross. Back's account of his explorations was published the year after this volume appeared. The greatest scientific yield of the trip was the discovery of the North Magnetic Pole. The many attractive plates are listed in detail in Abbey. A number of them depict the natives and events during the voyage. The lengthy appendix adds significantly to the work and includes additional color plates of Eskimos and a vocabulary of the Eskimo language, as well as a report about the natural history of the Arctic." (Reese). Bookseller Inventory # 27494
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