4to
1774 · London
by PHIPPS, Constantine John, 2nd Baron Mulgrave (1744-1792)
London: Printed by W. Bowyer and J. Nichols, for J. Nourse, Bookseller to His Majesty, in the Strand, 1774. 4to. (11 1/4 x 8 1/2 inches). First edition. [A4] B-L4 P-T4 U2 X-Aa4 Cc4 Ee-Nn4 Oo2 Pp1. [i]-viii 1-253 [1]. 262 pp. Title, Dedication to the King, Introduction, Journal, Appendix. 15 plates including 3 engraved folding charts or plans and 12 engraved folding plates after John Cleveley, P. d'Auvergne, Barnes, W. Pars, Pouncy, W. Byrne, J. Cheevers, J. Russell, Bayly, J. Caldwell, et al. 12 letterpress folding tables. Bound to style in diced quarter calf with tips over contemporary marbled paper boards, spine ruled gilt into six compartments with gilt-lettered red morocco titling-piece in second and gilt center tool in rest, all edges sprinkled red, on laid paper with fleur-de-lis watermarks
Fine first edition example of Phipp's heavily-illustrated voyage to the North Pole, on board for which was Horatio Nelson and the author of one of the best-known captivity narratives, Olaudah Equiano.
Phipp's expedition to discover a route to India via the Polar Regions had been proposed by the Earl of Sandwich and was the first serious British attempt to reach the North Pole since the early seventeenth-century. The voyage was sponsored by the Royal Society and received encouragement from King George III. The two expedition sloops were commanded by Phipps aboard the Racehorse, and Captain Lutwidge on the Carcass. The expedition was stopped, predictably, by pack ice just north of Spitsbergen on the Svalbard Archipelago; the appendix relates a thorough description of the natural history of that isle. Though the mission ostensibly failed, Hill relates, "the valuable appendix gives geographical and meteorological observations, zoological and botanical records, accounts of the distillation of fresh water from the sea, and astronomical observations." The innovative experiments Hill mentions used a thermometer designed by Lord Cavendish for measuring the temperature of water, and an apparatus designed by Dr. Charles Irving to distill salt water. Even so, Hill concludes, "The voyage is perhaps best remembered for the presence of young Horatio Nelson [then 14], as midshipman aboard the Carcass, and his encounter with a polar bear." Phipps, 2nd Baron Mulgrave, was an English explorer and officer in the Royal Navy. He served during the Seven Years' War and the American War of Independence, seeing action in a number of engagements. Inheriting a title, he went on to have a successful career in Parliament, and occupied a number of political offices. Phipps was appointed by the Admiralty in 1773 to command an Arctic expedition in search of a passage to the Pacific. Although unsuccessful in its primary aim, the voyage is noteworthy for Phipps's description of the polar bear as a distinct species, and for being a naval voyage on which scientific research was deemed to be just as crucial as exploration itself. Equiano, a freed formerly-enslaved person, abolitionist activist, and world famous author at the time, was the first African to visit the Arctic. This is the official account of the voyage, as opposed to the anonymous narrative published in the same year by "F. Newbery," a member of the expedition. The first edition of Phipps's book, of which the present copy is an example, was quickly followed by a Dublin edition and a French translation, both published in 1775. A German translation followed in 1777. The first American edition was published in Philadelphia in 1810.
BM(NH) IV 1570. Cox 11. Delgado 55. Fitzgerald 560. Hill 206-7, 1351. Lowndes 1860. Nissen ZBI 3163. NMM 805. OCLC 10294517. Sabin 62572. Savours, "'A Very Interesting Point in Geography': The 1773 Phipps Expedition Towards the North Pole," Arctic, Vol.37, No.4, pp.402-428. Stafleu and Cowan IV 1570. (Inventory #: 40855)
Fine first edition example of Phipp's heavily-illustrated voyage to the North Pole, on board for which was Horatio Nelson and the author of one of the best-known captivity narratives, Olaudah Equiano.
Phipp's expedition to discover a route to India via the Polar Regions had been proposed by the Earl of Sandwich and was the first serious British attempt to reach the North Pole since the early seventeenth-century. The voyage was sponsored by the Royal Society and received encouragement from King George III. The two expedition sloops were commanded by Phipps aboard the Racehorse, and Captain Lutwidge on the Carcass. The expedition was stopped, predictably, by pack ice just north of Spitsbergen on the Svalbard Archipelago; the appendix relates a thorough description of the natural history of that isle. Though the mission ostensibly failed, Hill relates, "the valuable appendix gives geographical and meteorological observations, zoological and botanical records, accounts of the distillation of fresh water from the sea, and astronomical observations." The innovative experiments Hill mentions used a thermometer designed by Lord Cavendish for measuring the temperature of water, and an apparatus designed by Dr. Charles Irving to distill salt water. Even so, Hill concludes, "The voyage is perhaps best remembered for the presence of young Horatio Nelson [then 14], as midshipman aboard the Carcass, and his encounter with a polar bear." Phipps, 2nd Baron Mulgrave, was an English explorer and officer in the Royal Navy. He served during the Seven Years' War and the American War of Independence, seeing action in a number of engagements. Inheriting a title, he went on to have a successful career in Parliament, and occupied a number of political offices. Phipps was appointed by the Admiralty in 1773 to command an Arctic expedition in search of a passage to the Pacific. Although unsuccessful in its primary aim, the voyage is noteworthy for Phipps's description of the polar bear as a distinct species, and for being a naval voyage on which scientific research was deemed to be just as crucial as exploration itself. Equiano, a freed formerly-enslaved person, abolitionist activist, and world famous author at the time, was the first African to visit the Arctic. This is the official account of the voyage, as opposed to the anonymous narrative published in the same year by "F. Newbery," a member of the expedition. The first edition of Phipps's book, of which the present copy is an example, was quickly followed by a Dublin edition and a French translation, both published in 1775. A German translation followed in 1777. The first American edition was published in Philadelphia in 1810.
BM(NH) IV 1570. Cox 11. Delgado 55. Fitzgerald 560. Hill 206-7, 1351. Lowndes 1860. Nissen ZBI 3163. NMM 805. OCLC 10294517. Sabin 62572. Savours, "'A Very Interesting Point in Geography': The 1773 Phipps Expedition Towards the North Pole," Arctic, Vol.37, No.4, pp.402-428. Stafleu and Cowan IV 1570. (Inventory #: 40855)