MAY, Walter W. A Series of Fourteen Sketches made During the… Search of Sir John Franklin, K.C.H., and the Missing Crews of H.M. Discovery-Ships Erebus and Terror. L: Published by Day and Son, May 1, 1855. FIRST EDITION.
Folio (372 x 272 mm). Letterpress title-page, 1p. list of subscribers, 4pp. descriptions of plates. 14 lithographs on 13 leaves after May, some tinted or hand-colored. (A few tiny marginal chips occasionally repaired, some minor spotting.) ORIGINAL PRINTED WRAPPERS (cloth rebacking, some soiling and minor losses); cloth folding case. Provenance: Sold Maggs Bros.; collector's bookplate, a few pencil marks.
FIRST EDITION of one of the most important Franklin Search color plate books. May served as Lieutenant on Sir Edward Belcher's expedition on the Assistance, and he recorded his impressions of that expedition in the present work. After retiring from the Navy as Commander in 1854, he became a successful artist, notably designing the bas relief on the pedestal of Franklin's statue in Waterloo Place, London. Complete copies of May's work are RARE at auction. Abbey Travel 646; Sabin 47083; Staton & Tremaine/TPL 3454.