THREE YEARS OF ARCTIC SERVICE. An Account Of The Lady Franklin Bay Expedition Of 1881-84 And The Attainment Of The Farthest North (2 Volumes)

London: Richard Bentley & Son, 1886. 1st U.K.edition . Full-Leather. Near Fine/No Jacket. Heavy 8vo. Superb 19th century binding, given as a 2nd class prize at Queenwood College (Hampshire ?) Royal blue hard-grained morocco leather with gilt & blind tooled decorations in the Art Nouveau style.Only minor wear to spine ends and corners.Rear hinge of Vol.II starting but secure. Aeg. Inside dentelles.Six panels with raised bands and fine gilt tooling to spines.Ribbon bookmarks bound in. Small bookplate on each front pastedown endpaper. Light creases to ffep's.Typical light foxing to prelims with other trivial scattered foxing within the text.Text is generally bright and fresh...bindings tight. VOLUME I. pgs.xxv,428 (one leaf) 17 b/w full-page illustrations,including frontis portrait of Greely that has offset to partially detatched tissue guard. Multiple in-text illustrations.5 maps (1 folding) VOLUME II. pgs.xiii,444. 26 b/w full-page illustrations,including frontis. Multiple in-text illustrations.4 maps (3 folding) The map called for in the pocket follows page 444. This map has two tape repairs along the hinge. This is the first English edition of Greely's account of an ill-fated and arduous, Lady Franklin Bay Expedition, in a period, fine binding. In 1881, Lt. Adolphus W. Greely (1844-1935) led a 25-man U.S. Army expedition to the Arctic with the primary mission to create a scientific observation post at Lady Franklin Bay. His party became stranded en route and for two consecutive winters relief parties were unable to resupply his camp. A rescue ship did not arrive until 1884, and found Greely and 6 other men in starved condition. The others from the party had perished from starvation, drowning, hypothermia and even an execution Greely himself had ordered. His party had reached farther north than any previous expedition to the North Pole and completed extensive mapping of the then-mostly unknown northern parts of Greenland. Based chiefly on Greely's diaries the book documents the expeditions day after day struggles with polar ice, sledge journeys, camp life, long trekking, and the geography of the territory they explored. While the men returned home as heroes, accusations of cannibalism soon followed; Greely denied any knowledge of such activities. A beautiful, fine binding set. Other photos available. Inquiries welcome.