8vo. With frontispiece & portrait plates. Publisher's original brown cloth gilt. FIRST EDITION. The Arctic Club was founded in 1898 and disbanded in 1913, when the Explorers Club absorbed its remaining members. It was formed in 1894 on board the 'Portia' which returned the survivors of Frederick Cook's 1894 Arctic expedition. They had first sailed in the 'Miranda' to visit Peary's Greenland Expedition but wrecked on a reef. Initially, members of the club were limited to those who had sailed in 'Miranda', but expanded to include such notable Arctic explorers as the Duke d'Abruzzi, D. Brainard, A. Fiala, Gerlache de Gomery, Greely, Grinnell, Lecointre, G. W. Melville, Nansen, Nordenskjold and others. Brewer served as its first president. Its mission, according to the Arctic Club Manual of 1906, was "encouraging arctic exploration and of promoting this good cause in a variety of ways," in particular by organizing dinners and reunions for explorers to socialize. The manual includes an introduction on the club and the voyage of the 'Miranda', followed by a list of members and their polar exploits, a chronological list of Arctic and Antarctic expeditions, and memorials to deceased members. Not in Arctic Bibliography. RARE.