A Voyage Towards the South Pole,

First edition of Weddell's iconic voyage, the first serious journey towards the Antarctic Circle since Cook and the start of modern Antarctic exploration. It is argued by many that the first edition is the true starting point for any Antarctic collection.

With the immense benefit of benign weather, James Weddell (1787-1834) managed to sail further south than any man before him, 3 degrees further than Cook, and was rewarded by his discovery of the entire Weddell Sea. Even when sail ships were replaced by steam ships, and wooden hulls by metallic ice-cutters, his explorations were difficult to duplicate. The book also contains a wealth of information on the natural and human history of South Georgia, the Falkland Islands and the South Shetland Islands, as well as his disbelief in the fictitious Aurora Islands, and his account of the first party ever to winter in the Antarctic (albeit north of the Antarctic Circle).

First edition; 8vo (21.5 x 14 cm); 5 plates including hand-coloured aquatint frontispiece, 2 folding aquatint panoramas, and 8 maps and charts, 6 of which folding, a little light marginal spotting to a few plates; contemporary full calf, boards bordered in blind and gilt rolls, spine in six gilt compartments with gilt morocco lettering piece, expert restoration to upper joint, extremities a little rubbed, a very good copy; iv, 276 pp.

Taurus 5; Rosove 345.A1; Conrad p31; Spence 1248.