Arctic Explorations: in the years 1853, fifty-four, Fifty-five by Elisha Kent Cain - 1856

Hutchinson and Co, London, 1903. First UK Edition. Cloth. Very Good/No Dust Jacket. 1st English Edition; 2 volumes; Vol I xvi, 1-346 pages xvii-xxii; Vol II viii, 347-702pages, ix-xii. Original covers. In two volumes, with 212 illustrations in text, 16 full-page photogravure plates, 2 panoramas and 5 maps. Both volumes covers very minor bumping, inner hinges beginning to crack, tissue paper guards age toned as usual. Contents clean. A Lovely set. In 1899 the author organized an expedition towards the North Pole. In spring he arrived in the Norwegian capital Christiania (the present day Oslo) with 10 companions. The duke acquired the Jason, a steam whaler of 570 tons, renamed it Stella Polare ("Pole Star") & took the ship on the expedition through the frozen Artic Sea. The members of the expedition sought to reach the North Pole by way of Novaya Zemyla, and the Franz Joseph Archipelago. They sailed as far north as possible, and then continued their trek by sledge. While they did not… Read More

The Polar Publishing Co, 1911. Cloth. Very Good. 1st Edition; xx, 604pp, illustrated, frontispiece, plus 49 b/w photographic illustrations. Original brown pictorial cloth lettered in gilt. Cook's original purpose in exploring the region west of Greenland was ostensibly to organize a hunting expedition. Just north of Etah, Cook decided that conditions were good enough for an assault on the North Pole, and set out on his journey over the sea ice with two Eskimo companions, two sledges and 26 dogs. Cook is one of the most controversial figures in the history of polar exploration. His supporters claim that he was the hero of the Belgian Antarctic Expedition, the first to climb Mt. McKinley, and the first to stand at the North Pole (allegedly only four days before Robert Peary). Others insist that Cook faked his claims to both Mt. McKinley and the North Pole, and continued a career of deceit by using the mail to defraud investors in a Texas oil promotion, for which he was convicted and spent five… Read More

Seeley Service & Co, 1923. Cloth. Very Good. 1st Edition; 280pp, illustrated 23 b/w illustrations, 1 map. Blue cloth covers with gilt titling to spine. Errata slip tipped in. "His account of the customs, modes of life, and beliefs of the Central Eskimo of Baffin Land is, however, something more than a book with a merely popular appeal. A residence of twelve years among these tribes qualifies him to give ritual and belief their proper setting and perspective in the everyday round in a manner which is not always possible in an analytic study." Nature 112, 469-469 (29 September 1923). Ex SPRI Library, SPRI cancellation stamp on fep and title page, note on verso front cover. Crease to front cover, contents clean. Very Good. PLEASE NOTE: This book will incur extra postage and insurance charges. Please contact us for a quote.PLEASE NOTE: This book will incur extra postage and insurance charges. Please contact us for a quote. Quantity Available: 1. Shipped Weight: Under 5 kilogram.… Read More

First English edition. Henry Colburn. London. 1828. 8vo. Title, xii, 428pp. Full marbled paper covered boards, 19th Century pseudo tree calf papier croisé pattern. Red spine label with gilt lettering and edge rules. Blue endpapers. Title page slightly toned. Lacking half-title. Rubbing to spine edges. A crisp copy of the rarer London first edition.
In making a Papier Croisé, the final step required that the paper be lifted up and carefully moved while still wet. This caused the characteristic knotting in the design.
John Ledyard (1751-1789) American explorer and adventurer. Ledyard accompanied Cook on the third and final voyage 1776-1780. Visiting the Sandwich Islands, Cape of Good Hope, the Prince Edward Islands off South Africa, the Kerguelen Islands, Tasmania, New Zealand, the Cook Islands, Tonga, Tahiti, and then Hawaii. It continued to the northwest coast of North America, making Ledyard perhaps the first U.S. citizen to touch its western coast, along the Aleutian islands and Alaska into the… Read More

205pp. Decorative endpapers. Very Good condition with light foxing to the closed page edges, and corner 'crumple' to lower margin/corners of pages 137-144.In near Very Good original price-clipped dustwrapper with some edge tears and toning.Rare memoir by Barbara Greene of the 350-mile, 4-week walk through the unmapped interior of Liberia undertaken in 1935 with her cousin, Graham Greene (republished in 1981 as 'Too Late to Turn Back'). Graham Greene's own account of the journey "Journey Without Maps" had been published in 1936.

Paris: Chez J.J. Jansen et Comp., 1795. Book. Illus. by 22 Fine Engraved Plates. Very Good. 3/4 Leather. First Edition. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. "Dans les Annees 1783, 84 et 85". Text in French. Three volumes, pages xliv, 304: 426: and 525. Half titles in vol 2 and 3. 3/4 calf with grey marbled boards. Burgundy title labels and black volume labels with bright gilt (probably later). Some edge wear, skillfully rebacked spines. Speckled page edges. 22 engraved plates, five folding, as called for. Clean and tight inside, no foxing, with book plates of Hon. Francis Howard. Mendelssohn I, 892, 889, 890: "His description is unilque for this period, as little inormation respecting these regions had been published up to this date". This second voyage was to Namaqualand, Damaraland, Bechuanaland and the Kalahari desert A fine set of a very rare African classic..

London: Hurst, Chance, and Co, 1829. Hardcover. Near Fine -. 4 volumes: folded frontispiece in each vol., 99 plates (24 folding); 18 cm. Plain brown paper over boards with printed paper spine labels with title: Londiniana or Reminiscences of the British Capital by E.W. Brayley. Publisher's advertisements on two pages following text in vol. 4. The plates include views, maps, and plans; they were bound in following the table of contents and list of plates in each volume, rather than facing the specified pages of text. Former owner's inscription at head of each title page: Frank Tayler July 1886. Tayler erased the name of the previous owner, which can faintly be seen under his name. In Near Fine- Condition: paper starting to separate over some joints, with slight loss of paper at joints and at head of spines; otherwise a clean and crisp set of this wonderfully illustrated guide to London.

Librairie Hachette ET Cie, 1909. First French Edition. Cloth. Very Good. 1st French Edition; French text, translated by Charles Rabot, 221pp, 86 b/w photographs, 2 folding maps. The great Norwegian explorer and adventurer, Amundsen (1872-1928), commenced in 1903 a sailing voyage in the ship "Gjoa" which ended in 1906; and took him and his crew from east to west through the northwest Passage, in the course of which voyage he located the magnetic North Pole. Contemporary Quarter red leather moroccoan boards, teg rest uncut, gilt tiling to spine, spine very slightly faded, corners bumped. Previous owners signature on fep. Contents clean. Very Good. PLEASE NOTE: This book will incur extra postage and insurance charges. Please contact us for a quote. Quantity Available: 1. Shipped Weight: Under 5 kilogram. Category: Arctic & Antarctic; Antarctic; Pictures of this item not already displayed here available upon request. Inventory No: 1787. . This book is extra heavy, and may involve… Read More

London: H. Allen & Co.. Good+. 1879. First Edition. Hardcover. Rebound in clean maroon cloth over 1/2 leather. Spine with raised bands and gilt title label. Decorated endpaper. (x) 326pp + 40 pages of publishers advertisements. First few pages have a damp stain & approx 1' dampstain on lower corner of last half of book. Preliminary pages (iii) & (v) have a professional page mend. Travel: Bombay, Agra, Delhi, Lahore, Kashmir, Ladakh, Leh, Belgaum, Benares, Allahabad, Meerut and Kashmir. Asia, India, Travel ; 8vo 8" - 9" tall; 326 pages .

This edition has been professionally rebound in tan calf leather. It is very distinctive copy of this exploration narrative. Many Illustrations. Octavo. 508 pages plus Harper selections catalog. A nice folded map enclosed in rear pocket. Decorated endpapers.