Sold for $2,016

4to (270 x 210 mm). 4 engraved folding maps, 30 engraved plates (11 hand-colored); errata slip tipped to p.769. (Some offsetting.) Later polished calf gilt (rebacked preserving original endpapers). Provenance: George Ramsay, 9th Earl of Dalhousie (1770-1838), Governor of Nova Scotia and Governor General of British North America (bookplate); collector's bookplate, a few pencil marks. 

FIRST EDITION, FIRST ISSUE (with text ending on p.768), describing Sir John Franklin's first voyage to explore the north coast of the American continent east of the Coppermine River. Covering 5,500 miles and lasting for three years, the journey was one of unimaginable hardship, with many men in Franklin's party dying of starvation, exposure, and murder. Franklin returned to London in 1822 a hero, and this narrative at once became a classic of travel literature. Abbey Travel 635; Arctic Bibliography 5194; Hill 635; Peel 80; Lande 1181; Sabin 25624; Staton & Tremaine/TPL 1248.

[With:] Franklin, John, Sir (1786-1847). Narrative of a second expedition to the shores of the polar sea, in the years 1825, 1826, and 1827… Illustrated by numerous plates and maps. London: John Murray, 1828. 4to (273 x 210 mm). 6 engraved folding maps, 31 engraved plates. (Slight offsetting from plates.) Later polished calf gilt (rebacked preserving original endpapers). Provenance: Christian Ramsay (bookplate); collector's bookplate. FIRST EDITION of Franklin's account of his second Arctic journey, which proved to be much more comfortable than his first expedition. He and his party surveyed a large portion of the coast of Arctic North America and collected important data on magnetism, geology, topology, and meteorology. Abbey Travel 635; Arctic Bibliography 5198; Hill 636; Sabin 26228; Streeter Sale 3699; Staton & Tremaine/TPL 1434; Wagner-Camp 34.