David Spilman Fine Books

The Voyage of the Jeannette.; The Ship and Ice Journals of George W. De Long, Lieutenant-Commander U.S.N., and Commander of the Polar Expedition of 1879-1881 [In Two Volumes, Illustrated]

De Long, George W. [Emma De Long, Ed.]

Boston: Houghton, Mifflin and Company | The Riverside Press, Cambridge, 1884. Very Good Plus. First Edition. 8vo [9.5x6.25in]; Vol. I - xii, 440 pp., frontispiece portrait of De Long, 7 illustrations on plates, 26 illustrations in text, 8 maps with one double page and one folding in rear pocket [12.375x18.5in]; Vol. II - xii, 441-911 pp., frontispiece illustration of Carin Tomb in Lena Delta, 7 illustrations on plates,15 illustrations in text, 16 maps, charts and diagrams with one double page and one folding, index; Dark Brown pebbled cloth covers with black stamped lettering with gilt accents and illustration on front and spine, gilt lettering on spine,same blind stamped on rear, all edges trimmed; Minor shelf wear to edges, corners and covers with rubbing on corners and joints, small tears to top and bottom of spine, all maps are fragile with repaired closed tears and splits, age-toning to text along edges, vol I leave section loose, rubber ink stamp of "Private Library Charles Fox, Grand Rapids, Mich" on front end paper, pencil signature of Charles Fox, in both volumes, laid in 1938 advertisement for Hell on Ice by Edward Ellsberg. [Arctic Biblio 3839, Smith 2391, Tourville Alaska 1260, Howgego III D4 ]. Item #14349

George W. De Long (1844-1881) was a U.S. Naval officer and Arctic Explorer. In 1873, De Long gained Arctic experience assigned to the 'Junita' to search for the survivors of the Charles Francis Hall 'Polaris' expedition to North Pole through the Smith Sound. Later De Long requested help and financial support from James Gordon Bennett, newspaper publisher of the New York Herald and noted promoter of sensational stories, for a North Pole expedition through the Bering Strait. The theory of an Open Polar Sea predicted the warm Pacific Kiro Shio current would enter the Arctic Ocean through the Bering Strait and create an ice free sea.

The 'Jeannette' entered the Arctic Ocean through the Strait in late August 1879. De Long intended to winter on Herald Is., but the ship became icebound, drifted northwest 350 Km and was sunk in May 1881 some 400 Km from the Siberian coast. The 33 men provisioned three life boats to drag over the ice to open water for the nearest settlements in Lena Delta. On the water, they became separated in a gale and one boat vanished. George Melville's boat, with 11 men, landed in an eastern bay of the Delta and were able to reach a village to find help. De Long's boat, with 14 men, landed 100 km away on the northwestern part of the Delta. With winter coming, they were not able to find shelter or game and all perished by the end of October 1881. They were found by Melville's rescue party in March 1882, and the bodies, journals and artifacts returned to the United States.

The story of the tragedy and survival in De Long's journals were edited for this book by Emma De Long. George Melville's book 'In the Lena Delta", provided detail on the Lena Delta survival and rescue. Lt. Danenhower's book, The Narrative of the "Jeannette" was the first account of the tragedy that first appeared serially in the New York Herald, 1882. The Jeannette Expedition was a popular current event and follow with national press and there was great interest in finding the Jeannette. In John Muir's book, The Cruise of the Corwin, he writes about the Alaskan trip to discover the fate of the Jeannette.

Price: $550.00