Rare books from Polar Books

Hutchinson and Co, London, 1903. First UK Edition. Cloth. Very Good/No Dust Jacket. 1st English Edition; 2 volumes; Vol I xvi, 1-346 pages xvii-xxii; Vol II viii, 347-702pages, ix-xii. Original covers. In two volumes, with 212 illustrations in text, 16 full-page photogravure plates, 2 panoramas and 5 maps. Both volumes covers very minor bumping, inner hinges beginning to crack, tissue paper guards age toned as usual. Contents clean. A Lovely set. In 1899 the author organized an expedition towards the North Pole. In spring he arrived in the Norwegian capital Christiania (the present day Oslo) with 10 companions. The duke acquired the Jason, a steam whaler of 570 tons, renamed it Stella Polare ("Pole Star") & took the ship on the expedition through the frozen Artic Sea. The members of the expedition sought to reach the North Pole by way of Novaya Zemyla, and the Franz Joseph Archipelago. They sailed as far north as possible, and then continued their trek by sledge. While they did not… Read More

John Murray, London, 1819. First Edition. Hardcover (Full Leather). Good/No Dust Jacket. 1st edition. Errata slip, xl, 252, cxliv. Period calf-backed marbled boards, raised bands, gilt titling to spine, marbled endpapers and page edges NOTE: MISSING MOST OF THE AQUATINT PLATES and charts. Those present are Cape Melville and Melvilles Monument (facing p74); Folding Chart of the Part of Baffin's bay found inhabited (facing p116); Large folding plate Views of Headlands (facing p190); Xeme (facing p LVII) 3 folding Meteorological Journals following appendix. 1st Edition of Ross's famous first voyage which marked the resurgence of British interest in the search for the north-west passage, and inaugurated the great arctic explorations and discoveries of the nineteenth century. Ghost images of plates, charts on facing pages. Contents clean. PLEASE NOTE: MISSING MOST OF THE AQUATINT PLATES and maps, otherwise Good. PLEASE NOTE: This book will incur extra postage and insurance charges. Please… Read More

Doubleday, Page & Company, 1907. Cloth. Very Good. 1907 Edition; xxii, 296pp, [6], illustrated, 105 plates (9 colour), 3 maps (1 folding). SIGNED by Author "? ? R.H. Pomeroy with gratitude of Anthony Fiala June 25 1907" on fep. With an introduction by W.S. Champ, and reports by William J. Peters, Russell W. Porter and Oliver S Fassig. illustrations from photographs and sketches by the author. Also nine, from paintings, in colour by Russell W. Porter and J. Knowles Hare. Original green blind stamp boards with gilt titling to spine, top edge gilt, others uncut. The author was the Commander of the Zeigler-Fiala Polar Expedition. Narrative of the Zeigler Polar Expedition, 1903-05. A 35 man party aboard the America proceeded to Rudolph Island, northernmost Franz Josef Land, where the ship was lost in the ice. They made three attempts to reach the North Pole using pony and dog sledge. Previous owners name and address verso front cover., spine loosening and beginning to split at feps.,… Read More

Printed for the Proprietors, Published by John Saunders, 1836. First Edition. Hardcover. Fair/No Dust Jacket. Full Title: The Last Voyage of Capt. Sir John Ross, R.N. Knt. To The Arctic Regions; for the Discovery of a North West Passage; performed in the years 1829-30-31-32- and 33. To which is prefixed An Abridgment of the former Voyages of Captns, Ross, Parry, & Other Celebrated Navigators to the Northern Latitudes. Compiled from Authentic Information and Original Documents, transmitted by William Light, Purser's steward to the expedition. Illustrated by Engravings from Drawings Taken on the Spot. 1st Edition:(2/3rd printing?) ii, 716 pages, engraved vignette title page, dictionary of the Esqimaux language, appendix. Brown, half morocco boards. The narrative (p.100-694) is apparently based upon statements by Mr. Light, of whom Captain (Sir John) had been highly critical (in his biography of the Victory's crew, 1835). The book includes many small incidents and details,… Read More

Harper & Brothers, 1941. Hardback. Very Good. 1st Edition. xiii,241pp. illustrated, 29 b/w photographs, 1 map. Original beige cloth with blue titling to spine and front cover in illustrated price-clipped dutjacket. Presentation copy - gift dedication SIGNED by AUTHOR and by VILHJALMUR STEFANSSON. Biography of the American Arctic explorer from his early days on the Dakota prairies to his exploits in the Arctic. Vilhjalmur Stefansson (1879-1962), the Arctic explorer and scientist who spent a total of ten winters and seven summers exploring Canada's northern regions. Stefansson, referred to as the "Prophet of the North", covered a distance of nearly 20,000 miles in his travels on foot and by dogsled, living among and adopting the clothing and habits of the native Inuit people. Stefansson, who became a lecturer at Dartmouth in the 1930s and 1940s, did much to change the image of the Arctic through his lectures and writings, portraying the region as friendly and hospitable.… Read More

A.W. Webster, London, 1835. First Edition. Hardcover (Half Leather). Very Good/No Dust Jacket. 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, now Captain James Clark Ross and The Discovery of the Northern Magnetic Pole. 1st Edition. xxxiii, (1), 740pp, illustrated with 31 plates, including 6 maps and charts, some outlined in colour and 2 folding, 24 views, some hand coloured. Appendix: xii, 120pp, cxliv, ciii. Half cream leather with dark brown leather boards, spine ruled with black leather spine labels, titled in gilt. After the embarrassment of Ross's first voyage in which he claimed to see the mountains in Lancaster Sound, it took him a decade to source private backing (he had lost the confidence of the British Admiralty) for a second trip. Ross travelled through Lancaster Sound into Prince Regent inlet and onto Boothia Peninsula, while on the way… Read More

Smith Elder, London, 1914. First Edition. Hardcover (Original Cloth). Good Condition/No Dust Jacket. 1st Edition; This copy is 243 of a limited edition of 350. Cloth, titles to spines and upper boards gilt, inset coloured pictorial decoration to upper boards and gilt rope-motif borders, all edges gilt. Copiously illustrated drawings in the text and full-page plates from sketches and paintings by E. Wilson, H. Ponting, and others. Gutta-percha binding delicate with some leaves loosening as is usual. Ex Library with various fairly discrete library stamps on some pages, otherwise contents clean. The South Polar Times was a magazine written and printed by the members of Antarctic Expeditions during the various voyages they undertook. In 1907 the batches were printed and issued in some 250 copies. When in 1914 the later issues could be laid to hand the third and final volume was published. Together they form what is perhaps the most personal of the printed documents to have come out of that most… Read More

A.W. Webster, 1835. First Edition. Hardcover (rebound in cloth). Good/No Dust Jacket. 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, now Captain James Clark Ross and The Discovery of the Northern Magnetic Pole. 1st Edition. xxxiii, (1), 740pp, iilustrated with 31 plates, including 6 maps and charts, some outlined in colour and 2 folding, 24 views, some hand coloured. Rebound in blue cloth with gilt titling to spine. After the embarrassment of Ross's first voyage in which he claimed to see the mountains in Lancaster Sound, it took him a decade to source private backing (he had lost the confidence of the British Admiralty) for a second trip. Ross travelled through Lancaster Sound into Prince Regent inlet and onto Boothia Peninsula, while on the way finding remnants of Parry's ship "Fury" which had been wecked on North Somerset Island. For… Read More

Sampson Low Marston Low & Searle, 1873. Cloth. Good. 1st Edition: xvi, (1), 357pp, (2pp publishers advertisements), illustrated, 9 maps (8 folding, many coloured). Purple cloth covers with gilt titling. Arctic Bib.10949 - History of Arctic exploration region by region, from the early times to 1870; with concluding chapters on best route to the Pole, the scientific results of arctic exploration, and proceedings towards despatch of a British Arctic Expedition in 1875. Covers are faded and in very tatty, poor state, eps splitting at hinge, damp markings affecting first few pages and frontispiece map, previous owners signature on title page and owners library bookplate on front pastedown, small tear to first folding map, folding map loose opposite page 59, laid in. All maps, illustrations, charts present and original, occasional spotting, pages age toned but clean. A Very rare item. Good PLEASE NOTE: This book will incur extra postage and insurance charges. Please contact us for a quote. Quantity… Read More

Seeley, Service & Co. Ltd,, 1920. First Edition. Cloth. Very Good. 1st Edition: 319pp. Illustrated with 16 plates from photos (including frontispiece) and 3 maps (including folding map at rear). Original black decorative cloth with blue lettering on spine. Minor damage to outside spine and hinges, shelfware, bumped, rubbed, very mild age toning, foxing.Contents clean. Very Good. PLEASE NOTE: This book will incur extra postage and insurance charges. Please contact us for a quote. Quantity Available: 1. Shipped Weight: Under 5 kilogram. Category: Arctic & Antarctic; Antarctic; Pictures of this item not already displayed here available upon request. Inventory No: 131. .

Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, London, 1831. First Edition. Cloth. Very Good. 1st Octavo 8vo Edition; Two volumes, Vol I [iv]-xxvi, [1, directions to the binder], 472pp; Vol II iv, 452pp. Three engraved maps, two of which are folding, and twenty-three engraved plates, many not in place as in directions to binder but all complete, also two copies of one of the plates. Contemporary rebound, cloth, half calf, Each volume with red and black spine labels. Spines stamped and lettered in gilt. All edges marbled. Beechey’s expedition on board the H.M.S. Blossom formed part of a double-pronged assault on the western approaches to the Arctic. Sent by way of Bering’s Strait to explore the northern coast eastward, Beechey was to eventually link up with Franklin’s second expedition, working westward from the Mackenzie River. The two parties came within several hundred miles of each other, one of Beechey’s vessels managing to penetrate as far as Cape Barrow, while Franklin turned back… Read More

Seeley, Service & Co, 1915. Cloth. Very Good. Part of the publisher's 'Library of Romance' series; 351pp, (1pp publishers advertisements). Original dark blue cloth covers titled and decorated in red,white and gilt, with huskies and men dragging a sledge on front cover, musk ox on spine. This edition is one of the earlier ones having more illustrations than the later editions. The preface is dated 1906 and a Publishers note on page 8 brings attention to various expedition leaders and publishers for the use of their illustrations. Frontispiece + 21 b/w illustrations + 2 maps all as called for in list of illustrations. Shelfware, rear cover stained. Previous owners signature dated 1918 on front pastedown, some foxing mainly to eps and page edges. A rare item. Good. Quantity Available: 1. Shipped Weight: Under 1 kilogram. Category: Arctic & Antarctic; Antarctic; Pictures of this item not already displayed here available upon request. Inventory No: 2787. .

Cassell and Co Ltd, London, 1923. First Edition. Cloth. Very Good/No Dust Jacket. SHACKLETON'S LAST VOYAGE: THE STORY OF THE QUEST From the Official Journal and Private Diary Kept By Dr. A.H.Macklin: 1st Edition; xvi, 372pp, 51 plate leaves including coloured photographic frontipiece [138 photographs and 3 sketches in all], 12 sketch maps in text. Original light blue cloth, spine lettered and ruled in gilt, cover lettered and ruled in black and gilt with a white, black and gold vignette of the Quest in ice. No dustjacket, Ink signature of A B Watkins, July 1923 on rear of front board, small booksellers label rear ep. Covers marked, bumped and faded, top and bottom of spine softened, slight foxing to some pages, all as expected for age of book. Overall Very Good. Together with "QUEST" EXPEDITION REPORT1st Edition; vi, [6],161pp, illustrated, 2 plate leaves, frontipiece plus 26 figures and maps in text. With a preface by C.Tate Regan, Director of the Natural History Section of the… Read More

John Murray, London, 1826. First Edition. Marbled boards Quarter bound leather. Very Good Condition/No Dust Jacket. Signed by Author. 1st Edition Association Copy, SIGNED BY AUTHOR: WINTER SKETCHES IN LAPLAND Or Illustrations of a journey from Alten on the shores of the Polar Sea in 69 degrees 55 minutes North Lat. through Norwegian, Russian and Swedish Lapland to Tornea at the extremity of the Gulf of Bothnia. Intended to exhibit a complete view of the mode of travelling with Rein Deer, the most striking incidents that occurred during the journey, and the general character of the winter scenery of Lapland. 2nd Title page in French. "With Capt Brookes comps" written is his own hand on title page and a SIGNED letter from Arthur de Capell Brooke to Barry tipped onto verso of front cover. Bookplate of Arthur Hugh Smith Barry, Marbury Hall tipped onto verso front cover. A set of 24 tinted lithographs, believed to be printed on China paper. The sketches are by Brooke drawn on stone by… Read More

John Murray,, London, 1912. First Edition. Hardcover (Original Cloth). Very Good Condition/No Dust Jacket. 1st UK Edition in English,1st impression of Amundsen's legendary narrative of his race to the Pole: A very good copy, 2 Volumes. Vol I, xxxv, 392 pages, 59 plates including frontispiece, 1 folding map. Vol II, xx, 449 pages, 46 plates including frontispiece, 1 folding diagram, 1 folding chart, 1 folding coloured map, 16 charts in text. Original covers with gilt titles to front cover and spine, Norwegian flag embossed on front cover. Top page edges gilt. A cornerstone of Antarctic exploration; the account of the first expedition to reach the South Pole. A handsomely produced book containing ten full-page photographic images not found in the Norwegian original, and all full-page images being reproduced to a higher standard. Rudmore Brown was a member of the Scottish Expedition and co-authored "The voyage of the Scotia." (Taurus 51). Taurus 71; Rosove 9.A1. Shelf wear. Age… Read More