A Voyage of Discovery Made Under the Orders of the Admiralty, in His Majesty's Ships Isabella and Alexander, for the Purpose of Exploring Baffin's Bay and Inquiring Into the Plausibility of a North-West Passage

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4to. 4to. Contemporary calf binding with rebacked spine and raised bands. xxxix [1] tipped in errata slip, 252 p.p., cxliv. 15 colour plates [4 folding], 9 engravings [2 folding], 4 tables [2 folding] and 3 folding charts including frontispiece. Light scratches to front and rear board with rubbing to extremities, but otherwise in fine condition. Sir John Ross (1777-1856) was a member of the Royal Navy, British naval officer and explorer who was selected to lead an arctic expedition through David Strait and Baffin Bay in search of a Northwest passage. He commanded the ship Isabella, while William Edward Parry was in command of their second ship, Alexander. Captain Edward Sabine was chosen by the Royal Society to make scientific observations. Also onboard was Ross' nephew, James Clark Ross. During the expedition he met with several Inuit tribes which he records. Unfortunately, Ross made several critical errors, among them his false claim of mountain ranges off of Lancaster Sound that he named Croker's Mountains. This was met with much criticism and hotly debated after the publication of this book regarding the supposed mountains, even among members of the expedition including Sabine and Parry. In 1819-20, Parry was elected to lead the next arctic expedition, venturing beyond Lancaster Sound in the hope of discovering the Northwest passage. Seller Inventory # 000161

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