THE TOLL OF THE ARCTIC SEAS

First UK edition, first printing. Publisher's original black cloth with sliver titles to the spine and upper board, in addition to an illustration in silver and blind stamped border to the upper board. Frontispiece and 23 black and white plates (containing 54 illustrations), one fold out 'Map of the Arctic Regions, showing explorations toward the North Pole' and three in-text maps. A very good copy, the binding square and firm, with bumping and nicks to the spine ends, resulting in a small torn area of cloth along the head of the spine, without loss. The bottom edges of the boards and corners with a little shelf wear. The contents, with a previous owners bookplate to the front pastedown and some toning to the endpapers and closed text block are otherwise clean throughout. The fold out map has a 11.5cm closed tear to the bottom right edge, which has been repaired with tape to the verso. Uncommon in the British first edition.

A collection of nineteen stories about arctic exploration in the Far North, including the expeditions by Franklin, Nansen, Peary, Amundsen and others, gathered 'from old accounts of the explorers themselves, from obsolete reports of Army and Navy inquires, from private journals and manuscripts, and from such writings of present-explorers' (introduction). Featuring previously unpublished pictures of the Far North by John R Bradley from the New York Herald.