Narrative of a Second Voyage in search of a North-West Passage and of a Residence in the Arctic Regions during the Years 1829, 1830, 1831, 1832, 1833; Including the reports of Commander James Clark Ross and the Discovery of the Northern Magnetic Pole [with Appendix volume]

London: A.W. Webster, 1835. First Edition. Very Good. In two volumes with Appendix to the Narrative, 4to [11x8.5in]; Vol. 1 - Narrative - [8], xxxiii, [1] binder notes for plates [large foldout chart], 740 pp., frontispiece engraving of Victoria Harbor, 25 plates of illustrations and diagrams (3 hand-colored) and 6 maps with two folding, addenda; Vol. 2 - Appendix - xii, 120 pp., cxliv, cii, [2], frontispiece engraving of Sir John Ross, 20 plates (12 hand-colored), collated complete including subscribers list and errata leaf; Later half red-brown calf with blind stamped edging and red-black marbled paper covers, five raised bands and gilt lettering on black field on spine; Some shelf wear to rubbed edges with corners bumped, several closed tear and crack repairs to plates and maps; American Entomological Society ex-library blind stamps on blank area of plates, some minimal foxing to plates [the hand colored plates do not appear in subsequent editions]. An attractive and complete set. [Hill 1490, Howgego II R29, Smith 8792, Sanderson/NMM 850 and 851, Stam 2.6, AB 14866]. This is an account of the four-year voyage by Sir John Ross [1777-1856] in search of the North-West Passage, during which his nephew, James Clark Ross, discovered the North Magnetic Pole. Due to the failure of the first voyage in 1818, Ross was not offered another command by the Admiralty. This expedition was privately financed in 1829 and Ross set out in the small paddle-steamer Victory with his nephew as second-in-command. It resulted in the discovery of King William Sound, the extensive survey of Boothia Peninsula, and the discovery of the Magnetic pole. The dietary importance of fresh meat and oil in the particular climate were first ascertained on this voyage so that all but 3 men survived four winters in the Arctic. With the loss of their ship, Ross and his men were forced to travel by sledge and small boat for open water in Prince Regent Inlet to be picked up by the Isabella. A number of the plates in the Narrative and Appendix depict the natives and events during the voyage. The rare Appendix [issued separately] contains the illustrations of Esquimaux life, forty-four pages of a vocabulary of the language and a report about the natural history of the Arctic.