NARRATIVE OF A JOURNEY TO THE SHORES OF THE POLAR SEA, IN THE YEARS 1819, 20, 21, AND 22.:  With an appendix on various subjects relating to science and natural history

NARRATIVE OF A JOURNEY TO THE SHORES OF THE POLAR SEA, IN THE YEARS 1819, 20, 21, AND 22.
With an appendix on various subjects relating to science and natural history

Franklin, John, Sir

Published by John Murray, London, 1823

Bound in contemporary full tree-calf full gilt spine, previous joint repairs. Bookplate of "Inebranlable" which relates to a bird in the hand. All plates present, some minor creasing to the fine paper plates at the rear. Black lettering label. xvi, 768pp. including one in-text diagram, plus thirty-one plates (eleven in color) and four folding maps.

The narrative of Captain John Franklin s first expedition to the Polar North is a landmark of historic travel literature from an icon in the history of Arctic exploration. First edition, first issue of the narrative of Sir John Franklin s first Arctic voyage (1819-22), published just a year after his return to London. Known as the Coppermine Expedition, its purpose was to map and explore the northern littoral of the American continent. Franklin was charged with reaching these isolated coastal stretches by crossing overland from Hudson Bay.

Once there, he was to survey and chart the coast as it stretched eastwards from the mouth of the Coppermine River. The expedition lasted three years, during which Franklin and his crew surveyed more than 5,000 miles of the Canadian coastline. It was a journey of unimaginable hardship. Over the course of the three years, Franklin lost eleven of the twenty men in his party. Most of them succumbed to starvation and exposure, but there appears to have been at least one murder, and for years there were rumors of cannibalism. Franklin s book explains how the men depended on lichen (a type of arctic algae-moss) to survive. The men also attempted to consume the leather of their boots, winning Franklin the sobriquet, the man who ate his boots. Yet despite the severe challenges, the surviving men pushed on with the mission and returned safely to London in 1822, where Franklin was welcomed as a great hero. The narrative of this incredible journey, published a year after his return from the icy shores, immediately became a bestseller and an absolute classic of British travel literature. It contains Franklin s insights and perspectives on all of the major events of the expedition, as well as his considerations on the expedition s goals. In addition to the more formal element of his reporting, the work is full of Franklin s observations on the landscape, its people, climate, and wildlife. Published in a Quarto format (268 x 215mm).

Item, ID#0551.