Lot 41
Egede, Hans
A Description of Greenland
Auction: Books & Manuscripts | 01 October 2026 from 10am | Lots 1 to 78
Description
… Shewing the Natural History, Situation, Boundaries, and Face of the Country. London: printed for C. Hitch … S. Austen … and J. Jackson, 1745. First English edition, 8vo (20.1 x 12.3cm), contemporary sheep, raised bands, with modern buckram box, 11 engraved plates and large folding map, corners bumped, joints cracked, with front board held by cords, folding map detached and laid in front of volume, with worm holes on bottom margin of initial 9 leaves (including title-page) text unaffected, spine label detached [ESTC T144751]
Provenance
19th-century armorial bookplate on front pastedown of Warren Peacocke of Efford House.
Footnote
Hans Egede (1686-1758) was a Danish-Norwegian missionary and explorer who worked among the Inuit populations, founding the Danish-Norwegian colony of Greenland in 1721. He remained in west Greenland until 1735, assisting with European navigation and exploration in the Arctic. A Description of Greenland was first published in Danish in 1741, the English translation was by Richard Norcliffe.