1859 The Voyage of the Fox in Arctic Seas. A Narrative of the Discovery of the Fate of Sir John Franklin and his Companions.

Description

First Edition, Folding Maps, Illustrated, Publishers' Original Binding

The first edition of Sir Francis Leopold McClintock's account of his journey to locate the remains of the ill-fated Arctic expedition led by Navy officer John Franklin in the mid nineteenth century, in the publisher's original cloth binding.

With nineteen illustrations in total, including one folding plate containing two maps, a folding plate depicting a record found of Franklin's expedition, a large folding map in colour in a pocket to the rear, and fifteen plates. Collated, complete. 

Captain McClintock received the Arctic Medal from Queen Victoria after his successful mission to find the remains of Franklin's lost expedition, a failed British voyage of Arctic exploration in which two ships carrying a crew of 129 officers and men became icebound for more than a year.

Marks found on the bones of the bodies recovered suggested evidence of cannibalism, elevating the lost expedition to mythic status. McClintock's findings were of special importance for the subsequent romanticising of John Franklin as a figure in British culture, as the establishment of his date of death acquitted the sailor himself from suspicion of cannibalism.

With three pages of advertisements to the rear, dated January 1860.

A fascinating first edition recounting an important and tragic incident in the history of polar exploration.