1855. · London
by Belcher, Edward
London: Lovell Reeve, 1855.. Two volumes. xx,383pp. plus three folding maps and thirteen plates; [iii]-vii,419pp. plus twenty-four plates (including frontispieces). Large octavo. Contemporary half calf and marbled boards, spines gilt. First volume rebacked with original spine laid down, front joint of second volume beginning to split. Institutional bookplate on each front pastedown. Large folding map backed on linen. Internally clean. Very good. This important work features a superb complement of lithographed plates, many of them chromolithographs or tinted, showing early views in the high Arctic. Belcher's narrative is printed in journalistic form, occupying the first two thirds of the text; the remainder is turned over to substantial reports and appendices on the natural history observations by John Richardson, Professor Owen, and several others. The map shows the Arctic Ocean in North America. ARCTIC BIBLIOGRAPHY 1241. ABBEY 645. SABIN 4389. TPL 3409. NMM 921.
(Inventory #: WRCAM50539)