Franklin, Sir John

2 volumes, 4to (10 3/4 x 8 3/8 in.;272 x 210 mm). 1819, 20, 21, AND 22 EXPEDITION: Half-title, 30 engraved or aquatint plates, 11 hand-colored, with tissue guards, 4 engraved folding maps, errata leaf at end; minor foxing, heaviest to plates. 1825, 26, 27 EXPEDITION: 31 engraved plates with tissue guards, 6 engraved folding maps, errata leaf at end; some foxing, heaviest to plates and facing pages. Uniform contemporary brown morocco, decorated in gilt and blind, spine in raised bands with 5 compartments, gilt titles and text to second, other with repeat decoration in blind and gilt, marbled endpapers, edges marbled; joints of vol. 2 splitting but holding.

Franklin Brooke-Hitching (his auction, Sotheby's London, 30 September 2014, lot 499)

Abbey, Travel 635; Hill (2004) 635-636; Nissen ZBI 1419; Sabine 25624 (wrongly calling for 34 plates in the earlier volume) and 26228; Stanton & Tremaine 1248 & 1434

FIRST EDITION, FRANKLIN BROOKE-HITCHING COPY. "[The first] journey was made to the mouth of the Coppermine River, largely overland and with the aid of canoes. The coast east of the mouth was surveyed. It is one of the most terrible journeys on record, may of the party dying from cold, hunger, or murder. The distance travelled was some 5,500 miles, and Franklin’s narrative at once became a classic of travel literature. Franklin’s second overland expedition made its departure from Fort Franklin on the Great Bear Lake. He traced the North American coast from the Mackenzie River to longitude 149° 37’ W., while John Richardson’s partly explored the coast between the mouths of the Mackenzie and the Coppermine. The two expeditions together added 1,200 miles of coast line to the knowledge of the American continent, and Franklin received several honours and became a popular hero. The views of the Arctic scenery in this work are noted for their beauty" (Hill).