8vo (208 x134 mm). Tinted litho frontispiece; numerous in-text illustrations. (Some  Contemporary half calf, marbled boards, gilt (rubbed, text block cracking slightly in a few gatherings). Provenance: Collector's bookplate, a few pencil marks. 

FIRST EDITION of this "collection of articles extracted from a manuscript newspaper called 'Aurora borealis,' published monthly and edited by one of the officers of the Assistance, during the expedition under Sir H. T. Austin in search of Franklin, 1850-51, in Canadian Arctic waters. The collection includes a variety of whimsical and informative articles by members of the expedition, on animals and birds, sledge journeys, entertainment, history, and the Eskimos" (Arctic Bibliography). Arctic Bibliography 651 (2nd edition, published in the same year); Lande 926; Sabin 1924 (incorrectly dated 1851); Staton & Tremaine/TPL 3128.