Forum Auctions
Lot 476
Polar.- Ross (Capt. Sir James Clark) A Voyage of Discovery and Research in the Southern and Antarctic Regions, during the years 1839-43, 2 vol., first edition, 8 lithographed plates (1 folding), 8 engraved maps (3 folding), unpaginated contents ff. to each chapter, most with wood-engraved vignette, wood-engraved illustrations, some spotting or foxing, school prize inscription to front free endpaper of vol.1, contemporary polished calf, gilt, rebacked, preserving original gilt spines in compartments and with red and green leather labels, spotted, rubbed, 8vo, [Ferguson 4636; Sabin 73367; Spence 993; Taurus Coll. 9], 8vo, 1847.⁂ Ross was the nephew of Sir John Ross and accompanied him on his first Arctic voyage in search of a Northwest Passage in 1818. He also took part in four Arctic expeditions under Sir William Parry between 1819 and 1827, and again served under his uncle on his second Arctic voyage from 1829 to 1833. Between 1839 and 1843, Ross commanded an Antarctic expedition comprising the vessels HMS Erebus and HMS Terror and charted much of the coastline of the continent. Joseph Dalton Hooker was the assistant surgeon on the expedition. In 1841, James Ross discovered the Ross Sea, Victoria Land, and the volcanoes Mount Erebus and Mount Terror, as well as the low, flat-topped ice shelf they called the Victoria Barrier, later named 'Ross Ice Shelf' in his honour.
