The Discovery of the North-West Passage

M'Clure, Robert. Osborn, Sherard, ed.

The Discovery of the North-West Passage

London, 1856 first edition, Octavo 21.5 x 13.5 cm. Longman, Brown [&c.]. 406 pages with 26 pages of advertisements dated March 1856. Folding engraved hand-colored map, 4 lithograph plates, original blue cloth with gilt lettering on spine, terracotta end papers with printed advertisements. The text is clean and tight without any markings. The fold out map is in fine condition with no tears and is properly folded. The binding is unmarked with no fading, spine lettering is bright, slight possible repair to the head of the spine otherwise a FINE copy.

Robert M'Clure was a British naval Captain who is best known for his discovery of the course of the Northwest passage. He commanded the H.M.S. Investigator and along with Captain Richard Collinson in the H.M.S. Enterprise, they were sent in 1850 by the British Admiralty to the Arctic to search for the lost Franklin expedition. Their approach was to be from the West through the Bering Strait in their search for survivors of Captain Franklin's long sought after ship. The Enterprise became separated from the Investigator and eventually chose to over winter in Hong Kong. The Investigator was able to sail 50 kilometers through the Bering Strait before being stopped by ice floes and frozen in for the winter. From this position M'Clure continued on with a sledge journey. It was then he determined that the Prince of Wales Strait connected with the Barrow Strait to the east, and that he had found a course of the Northwest Passage. When his ship was still ice bound at the end of the summer of 1852, and his crew being in ill health, they were fortunate to be rescued by the H.M.S. Resolute. M'Clure and his crew finally returned to England in 1854 after being away for 4 years. M'Clure was given a knighthood and promoted to the rank of Captain. After much debate by Parliament whether M'Clure should be awarded the £20,000 prize for the discovery of the Northwest Passage, he and the crew were finally given £10,000 for being the first to traverse the North-West Passage. Scarce in the original cloth binding.