Journal Of A Voyage To The Northern Whale Fishery; Including Researches And Discoveries On The Eastern Coast Of West Greenland, Made In The Summer Of 1822, In The Ship Baffin Of Liverpool.

Edinburgh: Printed For Archibald Constable And Co., Edinburgh & Hurst, Robinson & Co., London, 1823. First Edition. Scoresby’s regular whaling voyages to the Greenland fishery gradually came to involve exploration and the study of the natural history of the Arctic regions; he was largely encouraged in the latter regard through his correspondence with Joseph Banks. This work is an account of his 1822 voyage, which combined several weeks whaling with the exploration of the Scoresby Sound region (on this voyage Scoresby named Scoresby land and Scoresby Sound) and approximately 800 miles of the East Greenland coast, searching for Esquimaux settlements and making scientific observations. He describes ice and weather conditions, optical phenomena, and ruins of Esquimaux dwellings and their burial places. Appended is a list of rock specimens by W.Jameson, an annotated list of 45 species of plants by Sir W.J.Hooker, a list of animals, a meteorological table and extracts from the journals of two other whalers. Arctic Bib. 15614. Hill p. 270 (7 plates in total). National Maritime Museum Cat. I 834. Sabin 78171. 8vo. pp. xliii, 472. complete with half-title. 2 folding engraved maps & 6 engraved plates (2 folding). several diagrams in the text. An uncut copy in modern cloth (foxing to plates & adjacent leaves, tear in 1 map repaired - no loss, faded small institutional rubberstamp on title)