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FRANKLIN, John
SKU: 18921
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Stock No. 18921
Authors: John, FRANKLIN (1786-1847)
London: John Murray, 1824
Second edition. Two volume set. 8vo (8.75 x 5.5 ins); pp xiv, 370; iv, [1], 399. Bound in slightly later 19th century half-calf over marbled boards with matching labels to spine, raised bands with gilt circular devices in the compartments, gilt bands to head and tail. Pages edges speckled pink. Scattered spots of foxing, mainly to endpapers, also areas of toning. With the four large, folding maps at the end end of vol II., the chart showing the Connected Discoveries of Captains Ross, Parry, and Franklin, bound in with the others rather than as the frontispiece in vol I as usually found. Bookplate in each volume, unidentified. An excellent, sharp set, in pleasingly unrubbed bindings, with the maps untorn (unusual in itself), though somewhat toned along joints in some instances. A detailed retelling of Franklin's doomed 5,000 mile expedition from the mouth of the Coppermine River to the far east of North America that resulted in starvation, cannibalism, and murder. Franklin's journey was doomed from the start. As a result of poor planning, slow progress, and bad luck, the expedition soon became a byword for disaster. Supplies were not readily available, and because of the onset of an winter food was so scarce that one of the crew eventually turned to murder; there was even a suggestion of cannibalism. In all nine members of the expeditionary team died due to exposure to cold, starvation, or at the hand of their deranged companion. Franklin played a major role in numerous historic voyages and naval battles, including the Battle of Copenhagen (1801), a failed expedition to circumnavigate Australia (1801), and the Battle of Trafalgar (1805) aboard the HMS Bellerophon. During his final expedition, an attempt to traverse the Northwest Passage in 1845, Franklin's ships became wedged in ice floes off King William Island in what is now Nunavut, where he died in June 1847. The icebound ships were abandoned ten months later and the entire crew died, from causes such as starvation, hypothermia, and scurvy.
