[Rarebooks] FS: H.M.S. TERROR, 1838, Original Cloth, Special Price.

[Michael John Thompson]

CAPTAIN BACK, R.N.
 
NARRATIVE OF AN EXPEDITION IN H.M.S. TERROR, Undertaken with a View to Geographical Discovery on the Arctic Shores, in the Years 1836-7.
 
London: John Murray. 1838. First Edition (& 1st printing).
 
Octavo, original blindstamped blue cloth, spine panel lettered in gold, pale yellow coated endpapers, top edges untrimmed. Pp (i-v), vi-vii, vii (blank); (1),2 - 456, + 32 pp catalogue 'Select List of Books Published by Mr. Murray...", dated December, 1838, bound in at rear. Twelve lithographed plates and a folding map. The second issue binding, an earlier issue exists which is virtually identical but has 12 pages of ads bound in at the end, dated June 1838. Attractive bookplate of Nathaniel Cushing Nash on inner front cover. Cloth somewhat worn at edges and corners, inner hinges have hairline cracks (holding firm) and the inner front hinge has a mild older glue repair, top edge of title leaf has been cut diagonally (no loss of text) and repaired with contemporary paper; light foxing (minor) to the plates, one small bit of tape to the map. About (or almost?) a Very Good copy, complete with all plates, map and text.

¶ Account of the expedition in H.M.S. Terror, to complete the survey of the coast between Prince Regent's Inlet and Turnagain Point, under the auspices of the British Admiralty. The ship became beset in the ice and drifted along the northeast coast of Southampton Island all winter, before being freed from ice in Hudson's Strait in July of 1837 and returning, in poor condition, to an Irish port. H.M.S. Terror was a specialised warship and a newly developed bomb vessel constructed for the Royal Navy in 1813. She participated in several battles of the War of 1812, including the Battle of Baltimore with the bombardment of Fort McHenry (as mentioned in The Star-Spangled Banner: “And the Rockets’ red glare, the Bombs bursting in air”). She was converted into a polar exploration ship two decades later, and participated in George Back's Arctic expedition of 1836–1837, the successful Ross expedition to the Antarctic of 1839 to 1843, and Sir John Franklin's ill-fated attempt to force the Northwest Passage in 1845, during which she was lost with all hands along with HMS Erebus.
 
Catalogued Yesterday, Priced at $550 USD, Offering at $500 Cdn Postpaid within North America (about $375 US or so, post included). GST on Canadian Orders.
 
Photos, Etc here:
 
[ https://www.thompsonrarebooks.com/book.php?id=313197 ]( https://www.thompsonrarebooks.com/book.php?id=313197 )
 

Please message me directly to get the special price. Thanks /mjt
 
 
 
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Michael John Thompson, Antiquarian Bookseller
5275 Jerow Road
Hornby Island, BC
Canada V0R 1Z0
Ph: 250-335-1182
http://www.ThompsonRareBooks.com

Past President of the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of Canada.
Rare books and associated material bought and sold and appraised.