An account of a voyage to Spitzbergen; containing a full description of that country, of the zoology of the north, and of the Shetland Isles; with an account of the whale fishery .

LAING, John.

Published by London, for J. Mawman and David Brown, 1815., 1815

About this Item

8vo, pp. [6], 171, [3]; occasional foxing (including to title) and toning; very good in 19th-century half calf over marbled boards, spine gilt in compartments with black morocco lettering-piece; small abrasions at foot of spine, covers rubbed; armorial bookplate of William Edward Surtees and bookplate of Surtees Library Taunton Castle (with sold stamp) to front endpapers.First edition of Laing's acccount of his voyage as a ship's surgeon under Captain Scoresby to the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen in 1806 and 1807, in which he describes the ice conditions, whaling methods, the walrus, seal, polar bear, reindeer, and arctic fox, as well as some of the island's bird life. 'In the year 1806, being at the University of Edinburgh, an advertisement was put on the college gate . intimating that a surgeon was wanted for the ship Resolution of Whitby, Yorkshire, engaged in the North Sea whale-fishery. Impelled by curiosity, and by a still more powerful motive to visit the snow-clad coast of Spitzbergen, I applied; and was, after due examination, admitted surgeon for the voyage' (p. 1). The work reached a fourth edition by 1822.Arctic Bibliography 9582; Sabin 38 653. Seller Inventory # T5058.273

Bibliographic Details

Title: An account of a voyage to Spitzbergen; ...

Publisher: London, for J. Mawman and David Brown, 1815.

Publication Date: 1815

Binding: Hardcover

Edition: 1st Edition