Available Copies from Independent Booksellers
Price: US$385.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: 2 vol. 8vo. [3], xx-xxii, [1], iv-xvii, [2], 2-472; [3], iv, [1], 2-452 pp. Three-quarter recent blue buckram over marbled boards with recent black leather labels lettered in gold on the spine. Recent endpapers and pastedowns. Volume one illustrated with two fold-out maps, a double plate map, and thirteen plates; volume two illustrated with nine plates, four of which are double plates. Published by authority of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty. Arctic Bibliography 1228. Hill 93. Beechey's voyage was undertaken to assist the Franklin and Perry expeditions. The volumes contain a section on vocabulary of western Inuit peoples. With a few appendices on zoology. A fascinating historical and scientific publication on North America and select Pacific islands (e.g. Pitcairn Island, Easter Island, Tahiti, Alaska, Hawaii, and the coast of California (Monterey and San Francisco)). The maps with a few archival tape repairs, a few leaves repaired at their margins, or mounted on Japanese tissue paper. Volume two lacks one plate.
Seller: Evening Star Books, ABAA/ILAB, Madison, WI, U.S.A.
Price: US$600.00 + shipping
Condition: Good
Description: 2 volumes: xxii, 472; iv, 452 pages. 23 plates, 3 maps. The frontispiece map in volume I is detached. Leather spine rubbed, marbled boards. "Beechey's book is one of the most valuable of modern voyages and relates extensive visits to Pitcairn Island, Easter Island, the Tuamotu Archipeligo, the Society Islands, the Mangareva (Gambier) Islands, and Tahiti, Alaska, Hawaii, Macoa, Okinawa, and the coast of California. [and] provides an important account of Monterey and San Francisco before the American conquest." (Hill). Hill 94;
Seller: Tinakori Books, Lower Hutt, New Zealand
Price: US$2000.00 + shipping
Description: Very good. This copy has been rebacked, laying down the orignal leather back strip. Some rubbing to leather, but the gilt titles are very legible. Marbled paper cover boards have some rubbing but are still attractive. New endsheets with the bookplate of former owner inserted. This copy was an ex-library copy, from two institutions actually, with barely discernible label removal to spine and institution stamps to all three edges of text. There are faint embossed stamps to all plates, maps and a few occasional pages. Since end sheets have been replaced no call tag or pockets, there are a few places in the text with the withdrawal date in pencil. Internally bright with just a touch of foxing, mostly to plates, there are some notations in ink on page 567 in a contemporary hand. The second fold out map has a tear to its attachment, entering into the map and the map was crudely folded with some creases to edges. Book has been collated and is missing only the frontispiece.
Seller: Weller Book Works, A.B.A.A., Salt Lake City, UT, U.S.A.
Price: US$2250.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: 2 volumes. xxi+472 pages with three maps (two folding and one double page), figures, and 13 plates; iv+452 pages with 10 plates (some folding), tables and appendices. Octavo (9 1/2" x 5 1/2") Bound in contemporary half leather with marbled boards and gilt lettering to spine. (Ferguson 1418; Hill I, p. 19; Howes B309; Lada-Mocarski 95; Sabin 4347). Second edition published after quarto edition of the same year. Frederick William Beechey (17 February 1796 ¿ 29 November 1856) was an English naval officer and geographer. He was the son of Sir William Beechey RA, and was born in London. 1806 he entered the Royal Navy, and saw active service during the wars with France and America. In 1818 he served under Lieutenant (afterwards Sir) John Franklin in David Buchan's Arctic expedition, of which at a later period he published a narrative. In the following year he accompanied Lieutenant W. E. Parry in HMS Hecla. In 1821 he took part in the survey of the Mediterranean coast of Africa under the direction of Captain, afterwards Admiral, William Henry Smyth. He and his brother Henry William Beechey, made an overland survey of this coast and published a full account of their work in 1828 under the title of Proceedings of the Expedition to Explore the Northern Coast of Africa from Tripoly Eastward in 1821-1822. In 1825, Beechey was appointed to command the HMS Blossom. His task was to explore the Bering Strait in concert with Franklin and Parry operating from the east. In the summer of 1826, he passed the strait and a barge from his ship reached 71°23'31" N., and 156°21'30" W. near Point Barrow which he named, a point only 146 miles west of that reached by Franklin's expedition from the Mackenzie river. The whole voyage lasted more than three years and in the course of it Beechey discovered several islands in the Pacific, and an excellent harbor near Cape Prince of Wales. In July 1826, he named the three islands in the Bering Strait. Two were the Diomede Islands that Vitus Bering had named in 1728: "Ratmanoff Island" (Big Diomede) and "Krusenstern Island" (Little Diomede). Beechey called the uninhabited third islet "Fairway Rock", which is still its contemporary name. One of his crew, Petty Officer John Bechervaise, gave a detailed account of the voyage in his Thirty Six Years if a Seafaring Life by an Old Quartermaster, published privately in 1839. In 1831 there appeared his Narrative of a Voyage to the Pacific and Beering's Strait to Co-operate with the Polar Expeditions, 1825-1828. In 1835, and the following year Captain Beechey was employed on the coast survey of South America, and from 1837 to 1847, carried on the same work along the Irish coasts. He was appointed in 1850 to preside over the Marine Department of the Board of Trade. In 1854, he was made rear-admiral, and in the following year was elected president of the Royal Geographical Society. Beechey Island, where Sir John Franklin wintered, is named after him. Condition: Name neatly excised from head corner of titles, small inconspicuous stamp to last pages. Inner hinges beginning, marble to boards rubbed, some stains to map. some toning to some plates, some plates not bound in order to the printer (but are all accounted for), corners gently bumped else about a very good set.
Seller: The Book Collector, Inc. ABAA, ILAB, Fort Worth, TX, U.S.A.
Price: US$3000.00 + shipping
Description: First edition, first issue. Two quarto volumes (preceding the smaller octavo edition of the same year). Half-titles bound in. Plates collated and complete with 3 engraved charts (two folding), 23 engraved and lithographed plates, and advertisement leaf at end of volume 2. First chart reinforced to verso, ink stamp bottom right. New tissue guards to plates, which are moderately spotted and discolored at margins. Bound in recent quarter morocco with marbled boards. Spines lettered and decorated in gilt. In cloth slipcase. Cowan II, p. 42; Ferguson 1418; Forbes 772; Hill I, p. 19; Howes B-309; Lada-Mocarski 95; Sabin 4347.
Seller: Open Boat Booksellers, Amherst, MA, U.S.A.
Price: US$3750.00 + shipping
Description: Edition : New Edition (First Octavo Edition). , Contemporary half calf with matching marbled boards. Spine in five compartments of gilt bands. Gilt text on 2 and 4. Gilt ornamentation on 1, 3, and 5. Pasted and free brown endpapers. All edges speckled. , Two Volumes. Volume I records Beechey's outward journey, including visits to Pitcairn Island, where he met the last surviving Bounty mutineer and documented his story, Tahiti, and Hawai'i, and his first season exploring the Bering Strait. Volume II follows the expedition from California via China to its second Arctic summer, and includes a vocabulary of Eskimo words, notes on harbours and navigation, and a vivid description of the northern lights. Frederick William Beechey (1796 ? 1856) was an English naval officer and geographer. In 1825, Beechey was appointed to command the HMS Blossom. His task was to explore the Bering Strait in concert with Franklin and Parry operating from the east. The whole voyage lasted more than three years and in the course of it Beechey discovered several islands in the Pacific, and an excellent harbour near Cape Prince of Wales. In 1831, there appeared his Narrative of a Voyage to the Pacific and Berings Strait to Co-operate with the Polar Expeditions, 1825-1828. In 1854, he was made rear-admiral, and in the following year was elected president of the Royal Geographical Society. Beechey Island, where Sir John Franklin wintered, is named after him. The bookplate of F. J. Cooper is on the verso of the top cover of both volumes. There is also the library plate from Markree Library and another small label on the verso of the top cover. , Size : 8vo (210x132mm). , A fine hand-coloured example. Complete with 13 plates and 3 maps (double page and two folding) in the first volume and 10 plates (four double page) in the second volume. , Volume : 2 volumes, References : Arctic Bibliography 1227; Field 105; Hill 93; Howes' B-309; Lada-Mocarski 95; Sabin 4347; Streeter sale VI: 3517; Wickersham 6541 , P. Vol I: endpapers, folding map, title, contents (xix-xxii), dedication, introduction (v-xvii), 1-472, endpapers. Vol II: endpapers, title, contents, 1-452, endpapers. A fine and handsome copy of this hand-coloured example. Plates are clean and crisp.
Seller: Alexandre Antique Prints, Maps & Books, Toronto, ON, Canada
Price: US$4000.00 + shipping
Condition: Near Fine
Description: 2 Volumes. 8vo. 1 p.l., [v]-xxvi, [2], 472; iv, 330, [2], [331]-452. lacking half-title in Vol. I? 3 folding engraved maps, 23 engraved & aquatint plates (4 double-page), & 1 text illus. A near fine set in contemporary calf, all edges gilt (some light wear, some spotting to covers, bookplate removed from front paste-downs). First Octavo Edition of "one of the most valuable of modern voyages." (Hill) Beecheys expedition was sent to explore uncharted areas of the Pacific, to pass eastward through Bering Strait while charting the coast, and to attempt to meet up with two expeditions seeking the northwest passage from the east, one overland from the Mackenzie River (N.W.T.) led by John Franklin and one naval from Prince Regent Inlet commanded by William Edward Parry. Beechey and Franklin came within 146 miles of each other, one of Beecheys vessels managing to penetrate as far as Point Barrow, Alaska, while Franklin turned back at Return Reef at about 149 degrees west. Beechey's narrative contains scientific data, descriptions of Eskimo life and culture, and much of importance relating to Alaska (including the Aleutian, Pribilov and other islands), the Tuamotu Archipelago, the Society Islands, Tahiti, Hawaii, Macao, Okinawa, and the coast of California. There are valuable accounts of Monterey and San Francisco prior to the American conquest, as well as a lengthy account of the mutiny of the Bounty, as related by its sole survivor, John Adams, at Pitcairn Island. Arctic Bib. 1228. Howes B-309. Lada-Mocarski 95n. Sabin 4347. Smith 704. TPL 1476. Zamorano 4. cfHill p. 19. cfLande S161. cfGagnon I 240. cfStreeter VI 3517. cfWickersham 6541.
Seller: D & E LAKE LTD. (ABAC/ILAB), Toronto, ON, Canada
Price: US$4000.00 + shipping
Description: 2 volumes. 4to. xxi, [3], 392; vii, [1], [393]-742, [1] pp. Folding frontis. map, 2 maps (1 folding), 23 engraved plates. erratum slip. Original half calf, marbled boards, gilt spine, red and black gilt-spine labels; spines worn, corners showing, named clipped from title of volume 2 [repaired]. Very good. Captain Frederick William Beechey was an English explorer and geographer. IN 1825 he was appointed to command the HMS Bloosom, and directed to explore the Bering Strait. The voyage lasted 3 years, during which Beechey and his crew discovered numerous islands in the Pacific. They also spent significant time on the California coast, and the description of their time there provides significant insight into early San Francisco life, as well as the condition of life at the California missions. "BeecheyâÂÂs book is one of the most valuable of modern voyages and relates extensive visits to Pitcairn Island, Easter Island, the Tuamotu Archipelago, the Society Islands, the Mangareva (Gambier) Islands, and Tahiti, Alaska, Hawaii, Macao, Okinawa, and the coast of California. Captain Beechey was ordered by the Admiralty to Bering Strait as a relief expedition to await the separate expeditions of Captains Franklin and Parry, who had sailed in 1824 to search for the Northwest Passage to the Pacific Ocean. He was to meet them at Kotzebue Sound in July of 1826. After visits to Tahiti and Hawaii, Beechey heard at Kamchatka that Parry had turned back, but he waited at Kotzebue Sound for Franklin, who never arrived, during the summers of both 1826 and 1827. . . . BeecheyâÂÂs work provides an important account of Monterey and San Francisco before the American conquest and gives his impressions of the missionaries in San Francisco. Blossom Rock in San Francisco Bay is named for his ship. Beechey also describes the Eskimos of the north. At Pitcairn Island, Beechey met with John Adams, last survivor of the mutiny on the Bounty, who gave Beechey a lengthy account." - The Hill Collection of Pacific Voyages, p. 33. REFERENCES: Cowan, p.42; Ferguson, 1418; Forbes 772; Hill, p.19; Howes B309, "b"; Lada-Mocarski, Bibliography of books on Alaska published before 1868, 95; Reese, Best of the West 57; Rocq 5621; Sabin 4347; Smith 704; Streeter Sale 3517; Wickersham 6541. Zamorano 80, 4.
Seller: Jeff Weber Rare Books, Montreux, VAUD, Switzerland
Price: US$6500.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: The preferred large-paper Admiralty issue of Beechey's famous account, including a description of California. This narrative offers an extensive account of exploration of the Pacific Northwest coast from Alaska to California, including important descriptions of Alaskan Eskimos, Monterey, San Francisco and several Pacific islands, including Hawaii. In 1825, Frederick William Beechey was given command of HMS Blossom, assigned to sail around Cape Horn to the Bering Strait, where he was to provide support for two expeditions seeking the Northwest Passage one under the command of William Parry and the other under the command of John Franklin. Neither Parry nor Franklin completed their journey. Franklin s journey got trapped near Beechey Island, which Beechey himself had named for his father, when serving as a Lieutenant under William Parry, in Parry s 1819 voyage through the Parry Strait. In his journey, Beechey explored the west coast of North America extensively, as well as many Pacific Islands. His travelogue discussed his voyages in detail. It includes descriptions of California, including visits to Monterey and two visits to San Francisco, at that time a Mexican possession with two main establishments, the Mission San Francisco de Asis (Mission Dolores), and the Presidio fort near the tip of the peninsula. (The settlement of Yerba Buena, which would become the downtown of today s San Francisco, would not be established until 1835.) His travelogue also includes descriptions of the Eskimos he met, as well as his visits to the Tuamotu Archipelago, the Society Islands and Tahiti, Alaska, Hawaii, Macao, Okinawa, and to Pitcairn Island, where he met the last survivor of the mutiny on the HMS Bounty, John Adams, who told Beechey his story, which Beechey recorded. Provenance: High Latitude, Bainbridge Island; Martin Greene Library (Christie s Dec. 2017).
Seller: Neatline Antique Maps, Tiburon, CA, U.S.A.
Price: US$7200.00 + shipping
Description: FIRST EDITION, Large-Paper "Admiralty Issue" of Beechey's most famous voyage. Precedes The Octavo Edition published the same year. Two parts in one volume. 23 engraved or aquatint plates, three maps (two folding); errata. Lacking half-titles, some spotting and browning to plates, some offsetting, small section of fore-margin of title-page excised and repaired. Contemporary half calf gilt, marbled boards. (Rebacked, perserving original spine and end papers. "One of the most valuable of modern voyages, containing a most interesting visit to Pitcairn Island, The Coast of California", SABIN 4347. Beechey met one of the last survivors of The Mutiny on The Bounty, John Adams and transmits his lengthy account along with a portrait. He also describes The Eskimos, San Francisco and Montery. THE ADMIRALTY ISSUE IS THE SCARCEST AND BEST EDITION IN LARGER FORMAT, WITH BETTER PLATES AND ADDED TEXT NOT IN THE OCTAVO EDITION. PROVENANCE: Bassett Jones (1877-1960, American Polar Collector (Bookplate). PROVENANCE: STEVE FOSSETT, American Business man, Record setting aviator, Sailor and Adventurer. First man to navigate the earth in a balloon. (Bookplate). Arctic Bibliography 1227; Forbes 772; Hill 93; Howe's B-309; LADA-Mocarski 95; Sabin 4347; Tourville 467; Wickersham 6541;Zamorano 4.
Seller: Booklegger's Fine Books ABAA, Park Ridge, IL, U.S.A.