ROSS, JOHN A Voyage of Discovery ... for the Purpose of Exploring Baffin's Bay and Inquiring into the Probability of a Northwest Passage.
London: John Murray, 1819. First edition. Pale green boards, backed and cornered in calf, edges sprinkled blue. 10 3/4 x 8 1/2 inches (28 x 21.5 cm); xxix, 252, [2], cxliv pp., errata slip; with 25 plates, most in aquatint (15 hand-colored as issued) and 7 maps & charts. Boards rubbed, corners a bit bumped, head of the front joint starting, front hinge cracked through at the endpaper, minor toning and soiling internally, a few pencil marks, projecting margins of two folding plates bit soiled and frayed, some offsetting from plates. Bookplate of Sir James Barbizon Urmston (of the East India Company, their chief in Canton; knighted 1824), with a trace of his signature at the head of the title..
Ross's first voyage was marked by a singular error, one that has tended to overshadow its real achievements. In August of 1818, he navigated Lancaster Sound at the north end of Baffin Island but sailed only a few miles west along it, as he thought he saw it terminating in mountains. These were a mirage, and his retreat led to dissension between him and Parry, his lieutenant and second-in-command, who navigated the sound the same year this works was published. Abbey Travel 634; Sabin 73376; Field 1320; Pilling 3386.

C The Collection of Jay I. Kislak sold to benefit the Kislak Family Foundation

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