Narrative of an Expedition to the Shores of the Arctic Sea in 1846 and 1847.

A CLASSIC ARCTIC RARITY

First edition. Two large folding hand-coloured maps. 8vo. Original green publisher's cloth, stamped in blind and gilt, neatly rebacked with original spine laid down. Light wear to spine ends and corners. Bookplate on front paste down, embossed stamp on title-page and corner of one map. Very good. viii, 247, [1], 4, 9-12 ads.pp. London, T & W Boone,

Fresh from medical training, Rae shipped as surgeon in 1833 on the Hudson's Bay Company ship Prince of Wales, sailing to Moose Factory on James Bay in the same year. He stayed on as post surgeon and within a few years became chief trader and then chief factor. Notwithstanding his medical and commercial pursuits, his true interest was in exploration of new territory, its wildlife, and Indigenous populations. During the 1840s and '50s he undertook four expeditions, charting a remarkable two thousand miles of northern coastline.

 

In 1854, he visited Inuit at Repulse Bay who supplied valuable information and sold him articles which provided the first clues to the fate of Franklin and his men. His account is interspersed with valuable descriptions of Inuit life, and the struggles and triumphs of living in the Arctic, including the hunting tactics used by the Arctic natives. Rae's report created a sensation, and he was the recipient of the £10,000 reward for discovering Franklin's fate. The impressive large folding map of the Arctic regions is titled "Discoveries of the Honble. Hudson's Bay Cos. Arctic Expedition to the North of Repulse Bay...."  Another folding map, with new coastline discoveries marked in red, shows the Arctic west from Hudson Bay to Sitka in the Pacific, and north to the edge of the Polar Sea. The appendix includes information on the flora and fauna observed, as well as magnetic observations and other meteorological data.

Field, 1253; Graff, 3415; Lande, 1405; Ricks, p.178; Sabin, 67428; Wagner-Camp, 87.

Stock Code: 224108