THREE YEARS OF ARCTIC SERVICE. An Account of the Lady Franklin Bay Expedition of 1881-84 and the Attainment of the Farthest North.

Second UK Edition. Two volumes. Publisher's original blue cloth with gilt titles and illustration to the spine, with white and gilt illustration to the upper board. Illustrated with a steel engraved frontispiece portrait in volume I, 42 full page plates (many from photographs), numerous illustrations and five maps in text from drawings, four further maps (one double page and three fold out maps, including a large coloured map to the rear of volume II). Grey coated endpapers. A very good, set the binding square and firm, with bumping and nicks to the spine ends of both volumes and a few small tears to the head of the spine of volume II. The cloth, with a few light marks on the boards, is worn to the corners, with a 2cm tear to the rear spine fold of volume II. The contents, with a few marks to the pastedown and endpapers, with a small ink mark to the title pages and light spotting to the prelims and closed text block edge, are otherwise clean throughout. The large coloured map to the rear of volume II has numerous paper repairs to the verso, with a 30cm tear to the bottom of the map along the middle fold, a 6cm tear to the middle right along the fold and a few other smaller tears mainly along folds.

"This United States expedition during the First International Polar Year, based at Fort Conger, Lady Franklin Bay on the east coast of Ellesmere Island, explored the north coast of Greenland from Cape Bryant to Cape Washington. As relief ships failed to reach them, members the party made a march out of the Hall Basin area, all but seven dying of starvation before rescue at Cape Sabine, Smith Sound" - Arctic Bibliography.