Lot 337: BEECHEY, Frederick William (1796-1856). Narrative of a Voyage to the Pacific and Beering's Strait, to Co-Operate with the Polar Expeditions: Performed in His Majesty's Ship Blossom... in the Years 1825, 26, 27, 28. London: Henry Colburn and

BEECHEY, Frederick William (1796-1856). Narrative of a Voyage to the Pacific and Beering's Strait, to Co-Operate with the Polar Expeditions: Performed in His Majesty's Ship Blossom... in the Years 1825, 26, 27, 28. London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, 1831.

2 parts in one volume, 4υo (275 x 213 mm). 3 engraved maps, 2 folding, and 23 plates, half-titles and errata slip. (Some spotting and occasional offsetting.) 19th-century calf (upper cover detached).

FIRST EDITION OF BEECHEY'S MOST FAMOUS VOYAGE. Travelling to the Bering Strait and beyond, Beechey's expedition was supposed to have met up with Sir John Franklin and Captain Parry, who were expected to arrive from the East. Franklin came within 50 leagues of Beechey's camp, but was forced to turn back on account of bad weather. This narrative remains one of "... the most valuable of modern voyages..." (Hill 93) and provides accounts of visits to Pitcairn Island (where Beechey interviewed John Adams, the last surviving member of the mutiny on the Bounty), Tahiti, Alaska, Hawaii, Macao, Okinawa, and the coast of California. Arctic Bibliography 1227; Field 105; Hill 93; Howes B-309; Lada-Mocarski 95; Sabin 4347; Wickersham 6541.