First edition of Phipps's account of his expedition to the Arctic. The expedition with the ships Racehorse and Carcass sailed north by way of the Shetlands, reaching the coast of Spitsbergen on 29 June 1773. They passed Magdalena Hoek in early July, but were unable to penetrate the pack ice. A second attempt also failed. Notwithstanding this failure, the crew was successful in making numerous scientific observations and discovering several new species of animals, among them the ivory gull. "Phipps was also incidentally the first to give an adequate description of the polar bear (Thalarctos maritimus Phipps) and to give it a scientific binominal" (Savours). The crew included the future Admiral Horatio Nelson as midshipman and Olaudah Equiano, a former slave whose autobiography would cause a huge sensation.
With bookplate. With minor marginal water stains in a couple plates, occasional minor foxing, and the fore-edge of the first folding plate slightly tattered and repaired (not approaching the plate edge), but generally in fine condition and with large margins. Binding very good, with the board edges slightly worn. A lovely and well illustrated account of an important arctic voyage. Chavanne 1944; ESTC T152604; Hill 1351; Maslen & Lancaster, Bowyer ledgers 5043; Sabin 62572; cf. Savours, '"A very interesting point in geography': the 1773 Phipps expedition towards the North Pole", in: Arctic vol. 37 (December 1984), no. 4, pp. 402-428.