Narrative of an Attempt to Reach the North Pole in Boats Fitted for the Purpose and Attached to His Majesty's Ship Hecla in the Year MDCCCXXVII, Under the Command of Captain William Edward Parry, RN, FRS

Book Description

London John Murray 1828 Leather bound First edition 229pp. Quarto [28 cm] Original full leather binding, tooled, embossed spine, front and back cover with gilt accents. All edges gilt. Very good. Original boards have been reattached. Sporadic foxing throughout. Slightly heavier foxing occurs within engraved plates.Frontispiece: The Boats off Walden Island in a Snow Storm, August 12, 1827. 6 total plates (including frontispiece); plates titled: Plan of the Port of Hammerfest; Departure of the Boats from Hecla Cove; The Boats Hauled up for the Night; Traveling among Hummocks of Ice; and, Plan of Treurenburg Bay. Engravings by Edward Finden. Fold out chart of the North Coast of Spitzbergen located in back of book. Chart has a small, closed tear at left margin (does not affect image). At the age of thirteen, future Rear Admiral William Edward Parry (1790-1855) entered the British Royal Navy. One of his first voyages was to search for the entrance to the Northwest Passage. Later in his career, he was made Captain of the Hecla and sailed on several other voyages to the Arctic. He eventually discovered the entrance to the Northwest Passage (1821-1823). In 1827, Parry and his crew attempted to reach the North Pole from Spitzbergen, but they were unsuccessful. The expedition reached 82 degrees, 45 minutes north latitude, a distance within 500 miles of the North Pole and Parry earned a knighthood for his efforts. He later published three accounts of his voyages to discover the Northwest Passage and this 1828 volume accounting his attempt to reach the North Pole.

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