Arctic Explorations: The Second Grinnell Expedition in Search of Sir John Franklin, 1853, '54, '55

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Childs & Peterson, 1857. Hardcover. Good. 8vo 8" - 9" tall. Two-volume set, complete, published in Philadelphia by Childs & Peterson, but with two different title pages for each volume, the first saying 1856 and the other, 1857, as the dates of publication, thus not likely to be a First Edition. Bound in brown cloth boards, blind-stamped titles and illustrations to covers and spines, bumping to spine heads and feet, scuffing to tips, extremities, previous owner's ink-stamps to endpapers of both volumes, torn endpaper to Volume II, some light dust soiling to top edges of both volumes, some light soiling to and smudging of endpapers of both volumes, and with forward cock to both spines. Else and withal, still sturdily bound, clean and bright of interior, and they stand up proudly by themselves and look most handsome on the shelf. Engraved vignettes, tissue-guarded, including a fine engraved portrait of the author at frontis of Volume I, after an engraving by Whitechurch after a daguerrotype by Brady, and then of Henry Grinnell at frontis of Volume II, also after a daguerrotype by Brady and engraved by F. Halpin. The engraved vignette at title page of Volume II by J. McGoffin after an illustration by J. Hamilton, of a ship being tossed about, is just exquisite. Volume I is [4], 5-464 pp.; Volume II is [2], 3-467 pp. in length. Eighteen engraved plates after J. Hamilton, two maps, one of which is folding, one being "Chart Exhibiting the Discoveries of the Second American Expedition in Search of Sir John Franklin," the other, being "Folding isothermal chart of Baffin Bay." Publisher's original olive-drab cloth with blocked centerpiece vignette within elaborate blind-stamped borders. Gilt letterings to spines, still moderately sharp and distinct. Even had the Erebus and Terror not gone missing, the Sir John Franklin-led expedition to find a suitable Northwest Passage was a monument of 19th-century navigation. The fine steel engravings depict the Arctic with no little wonder. The author, Alisha Kent Kane, was the Commander of the Advance on this Second Grinnell expedition and was a Chief Surgeon for the U.S. Navy. It is a rip-roaring yarn indeed.Member, I.O.B.A., C.B.A., and adherent to the highest ethical standards. Additional postage may be required for oversize or especially heavy volumes, and for sets.