2 volumes bound in one, 8vo (208 x 124 mm). 5 engraved plates (3 folding, 2 hand-colored). (Minor mostly marginal spotting to a few plates.) Modern half calf gilt. FIRST EDITION IN ENGLISH of "one of the fundamental early books on the Aleutian islands and particularly Unalaska" (Lada-Mocarski). Sarychev served as deputy to Captain Joseph Billings, the leader of the Russian expedition of 1785 to 1793, sent by Empress Catherine II to explore the Arctic and North Pacific Oceans, during which "Alaska and the Aleutians, especially Unalaska, were first carefully charted" (Hill 1527). Howes S-115; Lada-Mocarski 57; Sabin 77126.