xiv, [1], 824 pp. 37 duo-toned tinted lithograph plates, 3 color lithograph maps (1 of which is folding). (4to) 29x22 cm (11½x9") publisher’s blind-stamped pictorial red cloth, re-backed with original spine laid down, gilt spine.
With the bookplate of the Royal Cruising Club. Beginning with the early Norse navigators, Smith reviews the exploration of the Arctic, with the majority of the book covering the accounts by Ross, Parry, Franklin, Rae, the search for Franklin, the search for the Northwest Passage, Nares, and foreign expeditions. Illustrated with many portraits of explorers, hunting scenes, sledding, Eskimos seal hunting, and more. The book was first published in Edinburgh by T.C. Jack (in one or three volumes when completed) between 1875 and 1877, and subsequently by J.G. Murdoch (London, 1877), T. Liddell (Glasgow, 1877), and Fullerton & Jack (London, 1880). The title varied slightly between editions, and the number of plates and maps increased from 28 (in the 1877 edition) to 40 (in this 1880 edition), but the textual content seem to have remained unchanged. This more extensively illustrated 1880 edition has the earlier title of “Arctic Expeditions From British and Foreign Shores” on the spine, but updated title (as on the title page) on the covers. The work was designed to have broad appeal, and was a 19th Century best-seller. [AB 16282]
Condition:
Wear and soiling to cloth, bumps and worn cloth at corners; scattered foxing, light creasing to some corners; very good.