RAE, John (1813-1893, Explorer and Surgeon) Historical North Polar Map - North West Passage.

RAE, John (1813-1893, Explorer and Surgeon) Historical North Polar Map - North West Passage. Chart of the North Polar Sea, lithographic map by Malby & Sons, with some hand colour, annotated in black and red ink by John Rae, Scottish explorer and surgeon. His marginal note states 'Here the hydrographer of the Admiralty took 10 or 15 miles from my discoveries so as to make Collinson's appear the farthest. I was at this place a year (in 1851) before Collinson. [signed] J Rae'. Rae's discoveries are marked in black ink; his 'track on coast / previously explored' is marked in red. Albert Pell of Hazlebeech, Northants, and by descent. John Rae was second in command of Sir John Richardson's party sent to search for the lost Sir John Franklin expedition in 1848. The Rae Strait at King William Land is named after him. It was the final piece of the jigsaw in discovering a North-West Passage. Rae completed four Arctic exploration voyages. He mapped much of the Arctic coastlines on foot or by boat. Lady Franklin did not accept the circumstances of the aftermath of her husband's doomed voyage, and campaigned against Rae, damaging his public reputation for years to come. Fold creases and some damp staining. Originally inserted within the atlas, lot 62.