Narrative of the Arctic Land Expedition; to the Mouth of the Great Fish River and along the Shores of the Arctic Ocean in the Years 1833, 1834, and 1835
Philadelphia: E. L. Carey & A. Hart, 1836. Very Good. First Edition. American Edition. 8vo [10x6.5in]; [1], [4 advertisements], viii, 456, [1], pp., fold out map (Inset of London edition map), map and charts in text, appendices; Original Publisher’s Light brown paper boards with dark blue half cloth spine with paper label, only top edge trimmed; Age wear to all surfaces, edges and corners, some stain spots on covers and spine, moderate foxing of text throughout, corners and edges worn and exposed, spine label worn with some loss of text, prior owner label with pencil notation "[M] S-VALENTINE Estate " and "Edward V Valentine, Richmond Va." in pencil on front end paper. [Wagner-Camp 58b:3, Arctic Biblio 853, Hill 43, Howgego II B3]. Item #11699
Sir George Back (1796 - 1878) was a British Naval Officer, Arctic Explorer and Artist. Back was part of John Franklin's first two overland expeditions (Coppermine 1819-22 and Mackenzie River 1824-26) to survey the North American Arctic. In 1932, John Ross's North-West passage expedition was overdue and Back proposed travel to Fort Resolution on the Great Slave Lake and follow the Great Fish River (renamed the Back River) to the Arctic Sea and likely location of Ross. By 1834, Ross had returned to England and Back received new orders to continue the exploration of the north west Arctic. Back and Naturalist Richard King returned with significant information on the geology, meteorology and botany of the Arctic. This book covers both of the expeditions from 1832 to 1835. From Hill, this book is "One of the fundamental books on Arctic exploration."
In 1836, Back lead another expedition to explore the northeastern Hudson Bay with the H.M.S. Terror and was beset by ice for 10 months. Upon his return, he retired from active duty. Back continued to be involved in arctic exploration, returned to the navy as an admiral and advised on the search for Franklin.
Edward Virginius Valentine (1838-1930) was an American sculptor known for Virginia and Civil War statues of Jefferson, Lee and Jackson. The Valentine family was well known in Richmond, Va. as merchants. Valentine was the President of the Valentine Museum, founded by his brother Mann S. Valentine II, for over 30 years. This book appears to have been originally owned by Edward's father, Mann S. Valentine (1786-1865) and was passed through the estate to Edward.
Price: $350.00