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 probability of a north-west passage by ROSS, Sir John (1777-1856) - 1819

London: John Murray, 1819. Quarto. (11 1/4 x 8 7/8 inches). [6], xxxix, [1], 252, cxliv pp. Small format errata leaf following the list of plates. 32 maps, coastal profiles, plates, tables or graphs (comprising: 1 engraved folding frontispiece general chart, 2 engraved folding maps by J. Walker after J. Bushnan and others, 25 aquatint or engraved plates and coastal profiles by D. Havell, R. Havell & Son, Thomas Lewin after A.M. Skene, Ross, H.P. Hoppner, Thomas Lewin and others [15 hand-coloured, 7 folding], 1 engraved table, 3 folding engraved meteorological graphs), wood-engraved illustrations (one full-page). Uncut. Repaired tears to the first three leaves, small tear to the frontispiece map with small area of loss affecting a few words of the Remark at the top right. Contemporary blue cloth, rebacked with the original spine, red morocco lettering piece First edition of the official account of Ross's first voyage. Ross "commanded the Isabella and the expedition, with Sir W. E. Parry in command of the Alexander. The vessels sailed from England Apr. 18, to Davis Strait and north along the west coast of Greenland to the entrance of Smith Sound; thence southward past Jones Sound to Lancaster Sound; after exploring it, the vessels continued southward, making a test of the breadth of Davis Strait, and returning to England by Nov. 14." (Arctic Bibliography). The expedition is credited with confirming the earlier discoveries of Bylot and Baffin, although they failed to probe deeper into Lancaster Sound, for which Ross was criticized on his return. Geographic discoveries included Melville Bay, Cape York, Prince Regent's Bay (Dedodes Fjord), Whale Sound, and Carey's Island. The scientific work produced some notable results and the present work also provides an account of an important encounter with "Arctic Highlanders" (i.e. Eskimos). In retrospect, Ross's voyage was the first of an important series of British north-west passage expeditions, which explored the Arctic regions in the period between 1818 and 1845. Abbey Travel II, 634; Arctic Bibliography 14873; Sabin 73376; Staton & Tremaine 1152; Hill 1488; Lande 1425.