A Fine Collection of American Literature and History

London: John Murray, 1823. First edition, first issue. Thick 4to. xvi, 768 pp.; with errata slip at front. Illustrated with an engraved frontispiece and 29 engraved plates (13 hand-colored) by Edward Finden after drawings by Lieutenants Hood and BacK, with tissue guards, as well as four engraved folding maps. Three-quarter brown calf over marbled paper-covered boards, red morocco spine label, stamped in gilt; matching marbled edges; light dampstaining in top edge of several leaves at front; some light offsetting from plates onto text. Sabin 25624 (incorrectly calls for 34 plates); Wagner-Camp 23; Hill, p. 111

A handsome first edition of British explorer Sir John Franklin's first expedition to the Canadian Arctic, detailing at great length the region's geography, wildlife, and indigenous inhabitants. "This famous 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, many of the party dying from cold, hunger, or murder. The distance traveled was some 5,500 miles, and Franklin's narrative at once became a classic of travel literature...The appendix on natural history is very important." (Hill).