Back Capt George (8 results)

Hardcover. Condition: Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Good. Creasing on jacket edge. Scuffing on jacket panels. Slight tanning on page edge.; 663 pages.

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. London: John Murray, 1836. 1st edition. x + 1pp + 663pp + 1pp. Frontispiece, 15 engraved plates, folding map. Blind-stamped brown cloth, expertly re-backed with the original backstrip laid down, gilt. Spine and board edges faded to brown. Very good. Back explored the vast region from Great Slave Lake along the Great Fish River to the shores of Chancery Inlet. The expedition started out as a rescue mission for John Ross's missing Northwest Passage expedition, but grew into an exploring expedition in its own right.

Hardcover. 1st Edition. 4to, 28.6cm, The First Edition, the Rare Large Paper Issue, x,[1],663,p. with 16 engraved plates and a rear folding map, in the original cross grain cloth, blind stamped border decorations on the boards, gilt block titles in decorated borders on the spine, binding expertly restored, a fine copy. (cgc) Large Paper Copy issued to match the other quartos of the period. On this special edition the sixteen plates were produced on India paper and mounted, the thinner paper produce a better image. Chine-Colle). Thirteen are after Back and three after B. Waterhouse Hawkins. Seven were lithographed by Haghe or Day & Haghe and nine were steel-engraved by E. Finden. Back was a talented artist and the engravings are most attractive. A.B. 851. T.P.L. 1873. Lande 935. Sabin 2613. Wagner-Camp 58b:1. Streeter 3705 (trimmed). 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 Indians). The Great Fish River, as Back named it, has since become known as Back River.

Leather. Condition: Fine. Capt Back (illustrator). First edition. An exquisite first edition, first impression copy of Captain George Back's seminal Arctic travel work. Complete, with all plates. Rebound in a very smart quarter morocco binding. This work is one of the finest nineteenth century travel books on the Arctic. It follows the 1832 expedition which was launched to search for the supposedly lost Ross expedition. Upon the return of Ross, Back pursued the expeditions secondary objective of navigating the length of the river known as Thlueetessy to the indigenous people. Back is credited with discovering the river and named it 'The Great Fish River' which has since become known as the 'Back River'. He travelled the full 440 miles of this river and his journey was 7,500 miles total. This work describes Back's voyage via Montreal to north central Canada, along the Slave River Lake and down the Great Fish River to the Arctic coast It is for this expedition that Back is best known. Prior to this he had served under Franklin and his Arctic expeditions. The Dictionary of Canadian Biography notes Back as being 'One of the first competent artists to penetrate into the Canadian Arctic'. Illustrated, with sixteen plates and one folding map, as called for. The illustrations are after drawings by Back himself. To this travelogue Back recounts his encounters with indigenous people, their culture, zoological remarks, commerce with the Cree, Chippewa and Coppermine people, and reflections on the flora and fauna. There are detailed descriptions on hunting in the frozen tundra and of the aurora borealis. The first trade edition of this work, being the first impression with Murray's address being Albemarle Street. The dedication leaf to this copy remains uncut. A lovely copy of this rare arctic narrative which has been referred to by Hill as being 'one of the fundamental books on Arctic exploration'. In a quarter morocco binding with cloth covered boards. Externally, in an excellent condition with minor shelfwear. Internally, firmly bound. Pages are bright with just the odd spots. The folding map has a small tape repair to the margin, not affecting the image. Fine. book.

8vo. 21cm, viii,338p., with front folding map, bound in quarter green calf, gilt titles and decorations on the spine, marbled boards and endpapers, bookplate, some foxing, a very good copy in attractive binding. (Ar). Back, who had been on both Franklin expeditions, was sent out to locate Ross, who had been unreported through three winters. He travelled overland to Great Slave Lake, descended the Fish (now Back) River, then unexplored, to the Arctic Ocean. He was a talented artist and the engravings are most attractive.

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. 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.

First Edition. First edition, 8vo, pp. x,[2], 663, [1]; large folding map and 16 engraved plates; 20th-century gray morocco backed marbled boards, gilt ruled spine, marbled edges; plates foxed with some damp on upper edge, map with closed tears and neat repairs but one fold with split, text clean and sound, very good. "Expedition via Montreal overland to north central Canada to succor members of the Second Ross Expedition, and incidentally to make scientific observations and survey an unknown section of the Arctic coast." (Arctic Bibliography). "Back's Narrative is crowded with details of his intercourse with the Crees, Chippewyans, Dog Rib and Coppermine Indians, upon whom he, as well as Captain Franklin, were obliged to depend in great measure for subsistence during the terrible privations of an Arctic winter" (Field). Arctic Bibliography 851; Field 64; Sabin 2631; Streeter 3705.

8vo, 21.5cm, The First Edition, x,[1], (Directions to the Binder), 663,[1]p., with engraved rear folding map, 7 lithographed plates and 9 engraved plates and 8 wood-engraved text illustrations, in contemporary full brown calf, gilt decorated raised bands, gilt center and corner decorations in the panels including gilt rule borders, crushed crimson morocco label, gilt ruled border on the boards, gilt roll decorations on the edges, blind decorated inner dentelles, matched marbled endpapers and edges, With the engraved armorial bookplate of "Henry Fowler Broadwood", a few plates have some slight foxing or transfer but overall less than the normal foxing or transfer one expects on the title, a relatively clean copy in attractive antqiue binding. (cgc). Hill 42. A.B. 851. T.P.L. 477. Lande 935. Sabin 2613. Wagner- Camp 58b:1. Streeter 3705. WCB 58b:2. Field 63. - 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. Back discusses in some detail the dealings with the Indian tribes he met along the way, and their dependency upon these natives, especially during the winter. "A fundamental source of information about Indian life along the route of the Arctic expedition." - (Streeter) It was on this expedition of 7,500 miles that Back discovered and named Montreal Island, after the city which had given him such a tumultuous farewell.