The Dangerous Voyage of Capt Thomas James, in His Intended Discover of a North West Passage Into the South Sea (Coles Canadiana Collection)

Toronto: Coles Publishing Company, 1973. Hardcover. Near Fine/Near Fine. The interior of the book is crisp and clean, showing no marks or wear. The brown covers are fresh, with just a touch of wear at tips and corners. The dust jacket is also in excellent condition, and is now in a protective mylar cover. Note: his is a photographic reprint of the original second edition, published in London, England; reprinted for O. Payne at Horace's Head, in 1663. It is one of a uniform set of such reprints issued by the Coles Company in the 1960's and 1970's. The dust jacket notes: "In 1631, Captain Thomas James sailed from Bristol to discover the north-west passage. This volume, written at the request of King Charles I, is his account of that expedition. It is a day-by-day record of an incredible journey ... Ice and fog were constant enemies, until at last the ship was halted in southern James Bay. TAhe way ahead was impossible ... For eight months, the crew clung to life on Danby's Island, a crude shelter protecting them feebly from the full fury of an arctic winter. All of them suffered from sickness of some kind; some of them perished ... working doggedly for two months, the men were able to free and repair their ship, and arrived back in Bristol on October 22, 1632.