1838 · London
by Back, George
London, 1838. viii,456pp. plus twelve lithographed plates and folding map. Original blue cloth, boards blind-stamped, spine gilt lettered. Slightly cocked, spine and edges sunned, corners bumped. 20th- century bookplate on front pastedown. Scattered foxing. About very good. A scarce account of Sir George Back's 1836 expedition to complete a survey of the coastline between Regent's Inlet and Cape Turnagain. The result was a terrible and harrowing journey. Off Cape Comfort the ship was frozen in for ten months, and then drifted up Frozen Channel. For three days she was on her beam ends, and was not completely free until four months later. On July 14, the following year, a submerged iceberg lifted the ship bodily to one side, but she was eventually righted. "Back's narrative contains principally detailed descriptions of the ice floe, its changes and its effects on the ship, together with brief notes on those sections of the Southampton Island coast to which short visits were made. Includes lists of equipment, supplies, and personnel, mention of unusual coldness of the summer of 1836, and accounts of trading with Baffin Island Eskimos" - ARCTIC BIBLIOGRAPHY. ARCTIC BIBLIOGRAPHY 850. HILL 44. SABIN 2617. ROSENBACH 20:43
(Inventory #: WRCAM54179)