The Polar Rosses; John and James Clark Ross and their Explorations

London: Faber and Faber, 1973. First Edition. Near Fine/Near Fine. [8.25x5.5in]; 260 pp., nine plates with 13 illustrations, three maps, bibliography and index; Light blue cloth covers with gilt lettering in black label on spine; Light blue dust jacket with black and white lettering on front and spine and blue tinted illustration of ship in ice field on front, portraits of Sir John and Sir James on back. Sir John Ross (1777-1856) was a Royal Navy officer and Arctic explorer. He lead three Arctic expeditions to discover the Northwest passage, which was unsuccessful. He did "discover" the Croker mountains that were later discredited. In a second 1829 expedition with his nephew, James Clark Ross, they discovered other passages through the Arctic islands and James lead several land expeditions and the discovery of the north magnetic pole location. On this expedition, his ship, Victory, became ice bound and sunk. Whale boats and supplies were saved and all but 3 men were saved by Whaling ships spotting the three boats in the open sea. His last expedition in 1850 was one of many to search for Sir John Franklin's lost expedition of 1846.

Sir James Clark Ross (1800-1862) was also a Royal Navy officer and polar explorer of both the Arctic and Antarctic. Along participating in John Ross's first two expeditions, he participated in Sir William Parry's four Arctic Expeditions and was part of the search for Franklin. In 1839-43, James Clark Ross led an Antarctic expedition of discovery in the HMS Erebus and with Francis Crozier in the HMS Terror, to chart the extent of the coastline. During this expedition, he discovered the Ross Sea, Victoria land and the volcanos Mounts Erebus and Terror. Along the way he encounter the US Exploring Expedition of John Wilkes.