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Sir John Ross, C.B. K.S.A. K.C.S. Captain in the Royal Navy. Engraved by Robt. Hart. Printed by B. R. Faulkner. Printed by Gaywood & Longworth. London, published 1834, by Captain J. Ross, R. N.

Authors :
Ross, John, Sir, 1777-1856
Hart, Robert, active 1833-1869
Faulkner, B. R.
Gaywood & Longworth
Ross, James Clark, Sir, 1800-1862
Publication Year :
1834
Publisher :
A. W. Webster, London, 1834.

Abstract

Frontispiece to Appendix to the 2nd voyage of Sir J. Ross 1829-1833 ... Black and white engraved portrait of Sir John Ross, Captain in the Royal Navy. Portrait is 14 x 11 cm, on sheet 32 x 25 cm. In appendix to second volume.<br />Narrative of a second voyage in search of a north-west passage, and of a residence in the Arctic regions during the years 1829, 1830, 1831, 1832, 1833, by Sir John Ross, Captain in the Royal Navy. Published by A. W. Webster in London, 1835. First edition. In two volumes; second entitled, The first Appendix to the narrative of a second voyage in search of a north-west passage … First volume bound in the original, recased, cloth with a navy-colored scale pattern. Appendix also in original cloth but with a teal-colored scale pattern. Collation: 4° : volume 1 : [viii], [xxxiv], 740 pages, [30] leaves of plates, including 1 fold-out ; vol. 2 : xii, 120, cxliv, [CIII] pages, [20] leaves of plates. 30 plates in vol. 1 contain 7 maps and 23 views; 20 plates in vol. 2 contain 1 map, 15 views, 3 illustrations and 1 portrait. Maps show topography, drainage, coastlines, islands, soundings and routes. Views include scenes of the Victory ship at sail and docked, as well as portraits of Inuit individuals met during the voyage. "As a result of the failure of his voyage in 1818, the Admiralty refused to support John Ross [JR] in a second expedition. It was not until 1829 that the assistance of Felix Booth, the sheriff of London, enabled him to set out in the small paddle-steamer Victory with his nephew James Clark Ross [JCR] as second-in-command. The expedition survived the winters in the Arctic, during which [JCR] discovered the North Magnetic Pole. [JCR] edited the natural history section of the appendix, and [JR] the remaining sections, comprising meteorology, navigation, and ethnology" (Hill). Hill: 1490; Sabin: 73381. Vol. 1 contains a dedication to King William IV, errata, an introduction, a glossary of “icy seas” technical terms, a table of contents to the text and a list of plates. In the Introduction, Ross describes the history of arctic exploration in search of a north-west passage, beginning: It was in the ninth century that this problem seems to have been first proposed: and the first northern expedition by sea, of which we know, was that of Othervie, who sailed from Drontheim to the White Sea ... Then Ross lists prior voyages by explorers, in chronological order, from 1496 to 1827. Following this list, Ross describes his own voyage, beginning in 1829. Also, vol. 1 features, on p. 76, a hymn in the "Esquimaux" [Inuktitut] language, as well as scattered proper names and phrases throughout. Hymn translation appears in the Addenda. Addenda also includes transcriptions of letters Captain John Ross sent and received, as well as the sums of money paid to support the voyage. Appendix includes a preface, sketches of the “Boothians” [Inuit], biographies of the Victory’s crew, a Meteorology section with tables listing daily observations of wind direction and force, the state of weather (gloomy, squally, ugly, etc.), and temperature in shade, from October, 1829 to March, 1832. In addition, an alphabetized vocabulary table provides translations between English, Danish and Esuimaux [Inuktitut] languages, such as for the English Ancient, “Gammel” in Danish and “Utokak” in Inuktitut. Another table gives latitudes and longitudes of place names listed, “from the N.E. Cape to Gulf of Boothia and King William IV. Sea.” Following all text is a list of subscribers. Omissions and errata appear at the end. Full text scan for vol. 1 available from the John Carter Brown Library via the Internet Archive (see link in Pub Reference field). Full text scan for appendix to second volume available from the University of Alberta via the HathiTrust Digital Library (use this link: https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=aeu.ark:/13960/t5fb5w43j&view=1up&seq=6).<br />https://archive.org/details/narrativeofsecon01ross/page/n7/mode/2up

Details

Database :
LUNA Commons
Publication Type :
Map
Accession number :
edsluc.RUMSEY.8.1.363121.90130548
Document Type :
Exploration Book<br />Frontispiece<br />Portrait