The Journal of Rochfort Maguire 1852-1854: Two years at Point Barrow, Alaska, aboard HMS Plover in search for Sir John Franklin

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Author: Maguire, Rochfort (?-1867)

Year: 1988

Publisher: Hakluyt Society

Place: London

Description:

2 volumes: xiv+318 pages with frontispiece, 4 maps and illustrations;vi+[319]-584 pages with foldout map, illustrations, appendices, bibliography and index. Octavo 8 3/4" x 5 3/4") issued in original publisher's blue cloth with gilt lettering to spine and pictorial representation of the ship Victoria embossed in gilt on front cover with cover edges blind ruled in original jackets. Edited by John Bockstoce. Works issued by the Hakluyt Society, second series, volume 169 and 170. First edition.

In 1845 Sir John Franklin's expedition left England, search for a northwest passage, and vanished into the Arctic forever. three years later HMS Plover's was the first departure in twenty one expeditions searching for Franklin. Although most of the analyses of the Franklin search have focused on the large expeditions in the eastern Arctic, the smaller western expeditions also produced significant geographical and ethnographic information. The Plover's voyage of 1848 to 1854 was the first constant presence of Europeans in the western Arctic, and Rochfort Maguire's journal is the earliest account of a sustained foreign association with the Eskimos of northern Alaska. Maguire's journal is far more than an important historical document; it is a fascinating account of Europeans and Eskimos learning to cope with one another. Maguire's narrative is introduced by a detailed discussion of the history, strategy and logistics of the Franklin Search in the western Arctic.

Condition:

A fine copy in like jacket.


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