KANE, Elisha Kent. Arctic Explorations. The Second Grinnell Expedition in Search of Sir John Franklin, 1853, '54, '55. Philadelphia, Childs & Peterson and London Trübner & Co., 1856.
Two volumes, 8vo. Original blind-stamped blue cloth gilt; pp. 464 & 467; engraved portrait frontispieces and additional engraved title to each volume, 18 steel-engraved plates, 254 woodcut illustrations to text and 4 maps (including 2 folding); corners a little bumped, inner hinges neatly repaired, spotting to steel-engravings and occasionally to text, else a very good set.
First English edition, bound from the original American sheets. The narrative of the second Grinnell Expedition on the Advance, under the command of Kane, to search for Franklin, and also to make scientific observations in the region north of Smith Sound, and of the winter on the north-west coast of Greenland. - 'Kane quickly impressed British explorers with his intelligence and traveling experience. In August 1850 the fleet located Franklin's first winter base on Beechey Island, along with the graves of three of Franklin's men. Further searches by the Advance failed to locate Franklin's expedition. The Advance returned to the United States in September 1851. Kane's belief that Franklin might have gone further north persuaded Grinnell and the U.S. Navy to support a second expedition to search for the lost explorers. Kane led this new expedition in the Advance to seek a more northerly route near Greenland...Kane's expedition departed in 1853, traveling northward along the Greenland coast. As the ship entered Smith Sound, the channel separating Greenland from Ellesmere Island, Canada, heavy ice stopped its progress. Rather than retreat to the south, Kane elected to keep his ship in Smith Sound. The ice soon froze around the ship, trapping Kane and his men in the high Arctic for the winter. When spring arrived, Kane sent exploring parties to the north along Smith Sound. One of his men, William Morton, discovered a broad expanse of open water, which he thought was an ocean. Morton's report led Kane to the erroneous conclusion that there was an open polar sea. Kane did chart many new discoveries in what later became known as "the American route to the pole." The 1854 summer thaw failed to release the ship from the ice. Some of Kane's men, fearing that they would not survive another winter in the Arctic, demanded to go south to reach the Greenland settlements. Kane, unable to quell the mutiny, refused to abandon the ship and his sick men. The dissenters, who included Isaac Hayes, then insisted that Kane supply food and equipment for their escape. Kane reluctantly complied. Kane and his remaining men faced a second bleak winter in the Arctic. While strong men wilted, Kane, the invalid, became a pillar of strength. The innovative doctor traded with the local Inuit for food. He also used the bountiful supply of the ship's rats for food and as a remedy for scurvy. When Kane learned that the deserters were starving, he sent them food and assisted their return to the ship. During the summer of 1855 Kane successfully led his men south to the Greenland settlements. He quickly became the United States' first Arctic hero ...From across the Atlantic, Franklin's wife implored Kane to come to England to organize a new search for her husband. The British government and the prestigious Royal Geographical Society also wished to honor the American hero. In October 1856 Kane reluctantly sailed to England, where his health rapidly deteriorated. Seeking a warmer climate, Kane sailed to Havana, Cuba, in December 1856, but his physical condition worsened. Kane died in Havana' (ADNB). - The British issue is bound by Westleys & Co. of London using much stronger cloth than the US issue.
Arctic Bibliography 8373; Sabin 37001.
under the command of Kane, to search for Franklin, and also to make scientific observations in the region north of Smith Sound, and along the north-west coast of Greenland. Importantly, the expedition discovered and named Kane Basin and Kennedy Channel, both of which would serve as the openings for later expeditions to the Arctic Ocean and the North Pole.
Arctic Bibliography 8373; Sabin 37001.
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