ROSS, John - Lot 142

ROSS, John 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. Including the reports of Commander, now Captain, James Clark Ross and the Discovery of the Northern Magnetic Pole. London, A.W. Webster, 1835. Large in-4 (305 x 243 mm) 4 ff.n.ch. (title, dedication, warning, errata), XXXIII, 740 pp. and pages 688-689*, 31 plates including 6 charters and plans, and 25 plates. Russian leather, cold decorated boards, spine ribbed, marbled edges (period binding). Hill, 1490 (with Appendix not present here); Sabin, 73381 (without Appendix); Abbey, Travel, II, 636. First edition of this very important account of a voyage that led to the discovery of the magnetic pole. After a first unsuccessful attempt in 1818, John Ross (1777-1856) returned to the Arctic to search for the Northwest Passage with his nephew James Clark Ross in 1829. The explorer John Ross had first set out to find the Northwest Passage - the sea route through the Arctic connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans - in 1818. He had mistakenly claimed that Lancaster Sound was surrounded by mountains and was anxious to restore his reputation. He believed that a smaller, shallower ship with an auxiliary steam engine would be more successful than the large ships that had been sent to the Arctic. The British Admiralty had no interest in supporting the voyage after Ross' previous failure, so Felix Booth, a gin magnate, provided the funding. Ross set sail with his nephew, James Clark Ross, in May 1829 aboard the reinforced steamer Victory. The voyage would turn into a four-year ordeal. In August, they reached Lancaster Sound, where Ross had turned back 11 years earlier. This time, the voyage continued and headed south to Prince Regent Island. At Somerset Island, they found the wreck of the Fury left by William Edward Parry in 1825 and took aboard some abandoned provisions. By September, they had sailed 250 miles farther south in the inlet than any previous expedition. The Victory wintered for the first time in Felix Harbour, where it was blocked by ice. Ross and his crew spent four incredible winters in the Arctic. In the spring and summer, they tried to break free, but progress was slow. During this time, Ross' crew made several land expeditions, clarifying the geography of the Boothia Peninsula and King William Island. The most notable expedition was to find the location of the North Magnetic Pole at that time (the pole is estimated to move 40 km per year in a northwesterly direction). When it became clear that the Victory would remain stuck in the ice during the winter of 1831-32, Ross decided to abandon ship the following spring. The crew headed north on foot to Fury Beach - a 300 mile journey. Among the 31 plates are 6 maps (one in color, and a very large fold-out detailing the discoveries in the Arctic regions) and 25 plates, 10 of which are in color. The beautiful plates show views, including three aquatints with the polar night. First leaves with tears restored, the Copeland Islands plate is present twice (p. 223 and p. 510), spine of the binding rebound using the original spine. [Bound at the head: ] Explanation and Answer to Mr. Braithwaites Supplement. London, Whiting, [1835]. In-4 (278 x 214 mm) of 8 pp. This booklet is part of the pamphlet war between Ross and Braithwaite concerning the boilers of the Victory. The failure of Ross' second Arctic expedition was attributed to the boilers in Ross' "Narrative of a Second Voyage". Braithwaite defended his machines in the pamphlet "Supplement to Captain Sir John Ross". Thus, in this particular pamphlet, Ross refutes Braithwaite's defense of the reliability of his boilers as he indicates that the failure was the result of the defective state of the boilers ("the failure in speed afterwards was entirely owing to the leaky state of the boilers, their ill-contrived plans, or deviations from the original plan"). Copy without the appendix, published in small number.