Narrative of the North Polar Expedition. U.S. Ship Polaris, Captain Charles Francis Hall Commanding.
Washington, D.C. Government Printing Office, 1876. First Edition. Hardcover in Original Publisher's Cloth. Stout 4to. Pp. 696. Edited under the direction of Hon. G. M. Robeson, Secretary of the Navy. Two engraved frontispieces, depicting the U.S.S. Polaris and Captain Hall. Two full-plate color lithographs of the Polaris and 38 wood engravings. Six maps. In the publisher's full green cloth with gilt-stamped vignette of a sledge party on the front board, gilt lettering on spine. Bookplate of J. Hop. Woods on front pastedown, and with an inscription by him on the on the page following the frontis. of Hall. Front hinge starting. Scattered foxing throughout, and with light general wear and rubbing to binding (please see photos), and heavier wear to lower edge and corner of front board. Dust soiling to top edge. In sum, a sturdy, presentable copy. Good+. Item #5274 A thorough account of the expedition, which thereto had penetrated the farthest point north, involving sundry hardships afflicting polar exploration of the era (vessel crushed by ice; crew stranded on an ice floe), but with a bonus: the murder of Captain Charles Francis Hall. While his death, upon returning to the vessel after sledging northward, was inexplicable at the time (1871), recent research has revealed death by poison. ARCTIC BIB., 18382. Now housed in a removable, clear archival sleeve.
Woods (1853-1921) was a West Virginia lawyer. According to his inscription, the book was presented to him, in 1878, by "Hon. B. F. Martin" (Benjamin Franklin Martin, (1828 – 1895), US Congressman from West Virginia, 1877 -- 1881.
Price: $300.00