![ANDERSON, James (1812-1867). Letter from Chief Factor James Anderson to Sir George Simpson, F.R.G.S. (cover title). [London: printed by W. Clowes and Sons for the Royal Geographical Society, 1856.]](https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/2017/NYR/2017_NYR_15724_0236_000(anderson_james_letter_from_chief_factor_james_anderson_to_sir_george_s055833).jpg?w=1)
AFTERNOON SESSION AT 2.00 PM (LOTS 236-421) The Franklin Search ExpeditionsThe fate of Sir John Franklin, and the search to discover it, dominated the 19th century mind and inspired countless legendary exploration tales. After several overland journeys into the interior of North America, Franklin's search for the Northwest Passage began on 19 May 1845, when he sailed from England with two ships, the Erebus and the Terror, carrying 128 officers and men. The vessels were last sighted by British whalers north of Baffin Island at the entrance to Lancaster Sound in late July of that year. In 1847, when no word had been received, search parties were sent out. For 12 years, various expeditions sought the explorers, but their fate was unknown until 1859, when a final search mission, sent in 1857 by Franklin's second wife, Lady Jane Franklin, and headed by Captain Francis Leopold McClintock, reached King William Island, southwest of Lancaster Sound. Found were skeletons of the vessels' crews and a written account of the expedition through April 25, 1848. The sunken ships Erebus and Terror themselves were only very recently discovered, in October 2014 and September 2016 respectively, and their contents are currently undergoing salvage and study.
ANDERSON, James (1812-1867). Letter from Chief Factor James Anderson to Sir George Simpson, F.R.G.S. (cover title). [London: printed by W. Clowes and Sons for the Royal Geographical Society, 1856.]
细节
ANDERSON, James (1812-1867). Letter from Chief Factor James Anderson to Sir George Simpson, F.R.G.S. (cover title). [London: printed by W. Clowes and Sons for the Royal Geographical Society, 1856.]
The only known separately published account of Anderson’s Franklin search expedition, first edition. Anderson located articles from Franklin’s ship the Terror near the estuary of the Back River, confirming Rae’s account. However the exposure he suffered in so doing caused the irrevocable loss of his voice and his eventual death from tuberculosis. This letter also appears in the Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, vol. 26, 1856. Arctic Bib. 445.
Octavo (222 x 140mm). 8 pp. Modern quarter calf; original printed green wrappers bound in. Provenance: William Priester (his sale, Bonhams New York, 25 June 2013, lot 2132).
The only known separately published account of Anderson’s Franklin search expedition, first edition. Anderson located articles from Franklin’s ship the Terror near the estuary of the Back River, confirming Rae’s account. However the exposure he suffered in so doing caused the irrevocable loss of his voice and his eventual death from tuberculosis. This letter also appears in the Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, vol. 26, 1856. Arctic Bib. 445.
Octavo (222 x 140mm). 8 pp. Modern quarter calf; original printed green wrappers bound in. Provenance: William Priester (his sale, Bonhams New York, 25 June 2013, lot 2132).