Lot 337
Scoresby, William
Auction: 13 January 2010 at 11:00 GMT
Description
An account of the Arctic regions, with a history and description of the Arctic whale-fishery. Edinburgh: Archibald Constable and Co., 1820. 8vo, First edition, 2 volumes, 8vo, [xx, 552, 82; viii, 574], half titles, 20 engraved plates, 4 maps & 4 folding tables, some folding, half-titles, Northern Lighthouse stamp on reverse of title, titles and frontispieces foxed, folding plate torn without loss; [Idem] Journal of a voyage to the Northern whale-fishery; including researches and discoveries on the Eastern coast of West Greenland. Edinburgh: Archibald Constable and Co., 1823. First edition, 8vo [iii-xliv], 472, 2 folding maps, 6 engraved plates, folding map split at one fold, lacks half-title, Northern Lighthouse Board stamp to reverse of title, contemporary calf gilt uniform with previous, Northern Lighthouse Board gilt stamp to backstrips, foxing and offsetting (3)
Footnote
Note: Scoresby accompanied his father on numerous voyages to the Arctic whale fishery, on which he began to study the meteorology and natural history of the polar regions. In 1813 he established for the first time that the polar ocean has a warmer temperature at considerable depths than it has on the surface. He attended Edinburgh University, corresponded with Sir Joseph Banks and Robert Jameson, was elected a member of the Wernerian Society of Edinburgh and in 1819 a member of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. In 1816 he made his first search for the North-West Passage. His 1820 work, An Account of the Arctic Regions and Northern Whale Fishery gave the results of his observations on the Arctic , as well as those of previous navigators. In his voyage of 1822 to Greenland Scoresby charted 400 miles of the east coast, thus contributing to the first real and important geographic knowledge of East Greenland. As an active member and official of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, he contributed to the knowledge of terrestial magnetism and optics. Sabin 78167 & 78171; Hill 1543