Sep 17, 2015 - Sale 2391

Sale 2391 - Lot 59

Price Realized: $ 488
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 500 - $ 750
(ARCTIC.) Ross, John, Sir. A Voyage of Discovery . . . for the Purpose of Exploring Baffin's Bay, and Inquiring into the Probability of a North-West Passage. 3 folding maps, 24 (of 25) plates (including 13 hand-colored), 3 folding tables preceded by an engraved leaf of explanatory text. [6], xxxix, [1], 252, cxliv pages. 4to, modern library cloth, moderate wear; foxing, page wear, intermittent soiling, first map and title page laid down on paper, a few tears, lacking errata slip and the Xeme plate in the appendix; later owner's signature on verso of first map, inked St. Charles Borromeo Seminary stamps on front pastedown and title page. London, 1819

Additional Details

first edition of Ross's account of his first expedition, which confirmed the earlier discoveries of Bylot and Baffin, made important scientific observations, and encountered the previously unknown group of natives he described as "Arctic Highlanders" (i.e., Eskimos). Though sharply criticized by John Barrow and others for failing to probe deeper into Lancaster Sound, "in effect Ross began a new era in Arctic research"--Books on Ice 2.5. Abbey Travel 634; Arctic Bibliography 14873; Hill 1488; Lande 1425; Sabin 73376; TPL 1152.