Narrative of the Discoveries on the North Coast of America; Effected by the Officers of the Hudson's Bay Company During the Years 1836-39

SIMPSON, Thomas

Published by Richard Bentley, London, 1843

About this Item

xix, 419 p. 23 cm. Three maps on two folded sheets in new front pocket. Rebound in quarter brown leather with marbled paper boards. New endpapers. Some faint marks to front cover leather. Ink stamp with signature on Contents page. Some stains to upper and outer margins towards rear of text, approx. p. 360 onwards; these do not affect legibility. Peter Dease and Thomas Simpson (1808-40), with a party of twelve men, were sent by the HBC to explore the northern coast of North America between the Mackenzie River and Point Barrow in present-day Alaska and from the Coppermine River eastward to the Back River. This enormous survey was carried out with great difficulty. Simpson's detailed account discusses geography, travel conditions, Indigenous peoples encountered (particularly the Chipewyan and Hare), the Inuit, hunting and fishing, and food rations. The Royal Geographical Society awarded Simpson their Founder's Medal but the HBC refused his request to lead an expedition farther east along the coast. Simpson, ambitious and furious, set out for London, hoping to secure approval there but, before he reached the Atlantic, he was shot in the head. The men who had accompanied him claimed he went mad and killed two of them before committing suicide. This account of Thomas's explorations was edited by his brother Alexander (see introductory Memoir) and published in 1843 in an attempt to restore his reputation. AB 16124.

Seller Inventory # 145496

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Narrative of the Discoveries on the North Coast of America; Effected by the Officers of the Hudson's Bay Company During the Years 1836-39
• Publisher: Richard Bentley, London
• Publication Date: 1843
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: First Edition.
• Condition: Very good
• Seller catalogs:
  • Rare & Antiquarian