The scarce first edition in book form of a series of papers on the possibility of a Northwest Passage, published the same year as Sir John Ross's first Arctic expedition. The papers were originally issued as pamphlets in 1775 on the eve of Captain Cook's third and final voyage to find a Northwest Passage.

Daines Barrington, the original author of these papers, a lawyer by trade, had been an active member of the Royal Society and wrote on many science and natural history topics. He had been inspired to write these papers by Captain Phipps's 1773 expedition towards the North Pole, in which Phipps had been one of the first to take a scientific approach to his journey. His failure, as well as the failure of Cook's voyage to ascertain a possible route through the Northwest, convinced a generation that the passage was highly unlikely or downright impossible, including Gore, Bligh, and Vancouver.

Colonel Mark Beaufoy (1764-1827) was a pioneering astronomer and mountaineer. He was the first Englishman to reach the summit of Mont Blanc, and commanded one of the most important private observatories at Hackney Wick. He edited Barrington's papers and added several of his own, starting at p.228, to bring knowledge of the Arctic up to date amidst a resurgence of interest in exploration in the region. Perhaps most importantly is the map, compiled by Beaufoy, which brought a new map of the Arctic into circulation. It was published just a month before Ross left on his expedition, and shows just how little of the American side of the Arctic had been revealed.

First edition in book form; 8vo (22 x 14 cm); woodcut vignette to title, folding map as frontispiece; later half blue calf, marbled boards, gilt spine in six compartments, gilt red morocco lettering piece, a very good copy; xxiv, 258 pp.

Sabin 3629.