STRAY LEAVES FROM AN ARCTIC JOURNAL; OR, EIGHTEEN MONTHS IN THE POLAR REGIONS, IN SEARCH OF SIR JOHN FRANKLIN'S EXPEDITION. IN THE YEARS 1850-51

London, 1852.. vii,[1],[2],320,32pp. plus folding map and four plates. 19th-century three-quarter calf and cloth, spine gilt, leather labels. Modern bookplate on front pastedown, light foxing, even toning to text. Very good. In 1850, Osborn was appointed commander of the Pioneer steam-tender in the Arctic expedition under Captain Austin aboard the Resolute, to search for Franklin. The expedition discovered traces of Franklin's having wintered at Beechey Island in 1845-46, thereby disproving the theory that his ships had been lost in Baffin's Bay. "Considered as a surveying expedition, [the voyage] was eminently successful....Much of the success of the voyage was due to the steam-tenders, which, during the summers of 1850 and 1851, held out new prospects for arctic navigation. The way in which the Pioneer or Intrepid cut through rotten ice, or steamed through the loose pack in a calm, was an object-lesson to the whalers, and led directly to the employment of powerful screw-steamers in the whaling fleet" - DNB. Indeed, in the preface Osborn refers to the expedition as "this, the first and severe trial of steam in the Arctic regions." Upon his return to England in 1851, he urged the renewal of the search for Franklin, and the public's interest was stimulated by the publication of the present work in February of 1852. The searching expedition of Edward Belcher was undertaken early that year. Osborn went on to become a distinguished rear admiral in the British navy and author of important books concerning the Arctic, including ARCTIC JOURNAL and THE DISCOVERY OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE BY CAPTAIN M'CLURE. A nice copy of a scarce work. ARCTIC BIBLIOGRAPHY 12899.