1888 Greely Arctic Expedition Lady Franklin Bay Grinnell Int'l Polar Rpt 2 Vol

Description: Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE You are buying a nice two-volume set dated 1888, related to the Greely polar expedition. The title of these volumes is: International Polar Expedition Report on the Proceedings of the United Sates Expedition To Lady Franklin Bay, Grinnell Land, By Adolphus W. Greely Greely was the First Lieutenant, Fifth Cavalry, Acting Signal Officer and Assistant, Commanding the Expedition. In 1886, the US House of Representatives authorized 4,500 copies, of which 1,250 copies were for the use of the United States Senate, 2,500 copies for use of the House of Representatives, and 750 copies for distribution to libraries and arctic explorers. This two-volume set, published and printed in the Government Printing Office in Washington, is no doubt one of the sets designated for libraries. This professionally bound two-volume set contains many illustrations, many of which are full page. Of interest to many branches of science, including Atmospheric Science, Exploration, History, Sociology, Climate Change studies, Oceanography, Geography, and more. Volume 1 – 545 pages, including fold-out maps. This is a thorough treatment of that expedition, including discussions and documentation authorizing the voyages, discoveries made, and firsthand accounts based on journals and letters. Volume 2 – 788 pages, including fold-out plates and scientific diagrams. This volume continues the appendices, and lists scientific results - meteorology, magnetism, tides, pendulum observations, etc. Condition: These books are in Very Good condition. The binding is hardbound, in a nondescript burgundy cover. Bound with heavy duty materials for long-term use in the nation’s libraries. Binding is tight with heavy duty boards, from lack of use. The books have been shelved on a ‘Closed Stack’ in the Northwest Room – which is a Reference room – of the Spokane Public Library for decades, until it was recently released (due to construction at the library, and a shortage of storage space). Thus, this book has been on a quiet shelf in a secured room, and has not been made available for check-out, so handling has been minimal. It has several stamps to indicate that it was once the property of the library but is No Longer Property of the Spokane Library. More Background: Adolphus Washington Greely (March 27, 1844 – October 20, 1935), was an American Polar explorer, a United States Army officer and a recipient of the Medal of Honor. He began his long and distinguished military career shortly after the outbreak of the American Civil War. In 1881, First Lieutenant Greely was given command of the Lady Franklin Bay Expedition on the ship Proteus. Promoted by Henry W. Howgate, its purpose was to establish one of a chain of meteorological-observation stations as part of the First International Polar Year. The expedition also was commissioned by the US government to collect astronomical and polar magnetic data, which was carried out by the astronomer Edward Israel, who was part of Greely's crew. Another goal of the expedition was to search for any clues of the USS Jeannette, lost in the Arctic two years earlier. Greely was without previous Arctic experience, but he and his party were able to discover many hitherto unknown miles along the coast of northwest Greenland. The expedition also crossed Ellesmere Island from east to west and Lt. James B. Lockwood and David L. Brainard achieved a new "farthest north" record of 83°23'8". In 1882, Greely sighted a mountain range during a dog sledding exploration to the interior of northern Ellesmere Island and named them the Conger Range. He also sighted the Innuitian Mountains from Lake Hazen. Two consecutive supply parties failed to reach Greely's party encamped at Fort Conger on Ellesmere Island in 1882 and 1883. In accordance with his instructions for this case, Greely decided in August 1883 to abandon Fort Conger and retreat south with his team. They reached Cape Sabine expecting to find food and equipment depots from the supply ships, but these had not been provided. With winter setting in Greely and his men were forced to winter at Cape Sabine with inadequate rations and little fuel. A rescue expedition, led by Capt. Winfield Scott Schley on the USRC Bear (a former whaler built in Greenock, Scotland), was sent to rescue the Greely party. By the time Bear and ships Thetis and Alert arrived on June 22, 1884, to rescue the expedition, nineteen of Greely's 25-man crew had perished from starvation, drowning, hypothermia, and, in the case of Private Henry, gunshot wounds from an execution ordered by Greely. Greely and the other survivors were themselves near death; one of the survivors died on the homeward journey. The returning survivors were venerated as heroes, though the heroism was tainted by sensational accusations of cannibalism during the remaining days of low food.

Price: 124 USD

Location: Spokane, Washington

End Time: 2024-08-20T15:16:02.000Z

Shipping Cost: 14.65 USD