Narrative of an Expedition to the Polar Sea, in the Years 1820, 1821, 1822, & 1823 Commanded by Lieutenant, Now Admiral, Ferdinand Von Wrangell Hardcover - 1840

London: James. Good with no dust jacket. 1840. First Edition. Hardcover. Blue blind embossed original boards with gilt on rebound sunned spine. Soiling on boards and heavily rubbed corners, with a 4" diameter circular London bookseller's label on the front board. Spine cocked, binding tight. Front pastedown is peeling from main board, with two bookplates from previous owners on the front pastedown endpaper. The yellow endpapers have brown and dark green cloth tape reinforcing the hinges. Another older stamp has Ex Libris Louis Bennett Bishop, a well-known ornithological collector, with a shield design, on the first free endpaper. Underneath the stamp is the signature of Jeremiah Curtin, a folklorist and translator. Text block has soiled top edge, soil on some pages, and rubbed corners. Xvi, xvii-cxxxvii introduction, 413 pages, [2] adverts. This is the first English translation of von Wrangell's account, translated by the editor Edward Sabine's wife, with no map or frontispiece as issued. Ferdinand von Wrangell's narrative details one of the most valuable and successful polar explorations, with interesting information on bear hunts and on the care of sled dogs, which Wrangell used in overland portions of the expedition. Condensed slightly from the 1839 German publication, Howes W 689. ; 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall; 412 pp .