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Barry Lawrence Ruderman Antique Maps Inc Barry Lawrence Ruderman Antique Maps Inc. 7407 La Jolla Boulevard www.raremaps.com (858) 551-8500 La Jolla, CA 92037 [email protected] Chart of the North-West Passage Discovered by Capt. McClure. H.M.S. Investigator, 1850-1853. From the Charts prepared at the Hydrographic Office, Admiralty . Second Edition with Sir E. Belcher's Discoveries Stock#: 72085 Map Maker: Johnston Date: 1853 Place: Edinburgh Color: Outline Color Condition: Good Size: 24.5 x 12 inches Price: SOLD Description: First Printed Map of the Northwest Passage -- Northwest Passage Finally Revealed Exceedingly rare map of the Northwest Passage as delineated by the voyages sent in search of the lost Franklin expedition. Johnston's map is the first commercially published map of the Northwest Pasage. Issued ten days after the Admiralty edition of the map referenced in Johnston's title, this second edition, as Johnston calls it, is signifcantly rarer than the first edition, with only two known institutional examples. Johnston's map is also much more detailed than the Admiralty edition. It contains numerous inland details and many more toponyms than its predecessor. It also provides prospective navigational details omitted by the Admiralty chart, including Admiralty Inlet, Scott Inlet and several supposed channels along the west coast of Baffin Bay, among others. As noted in the title, Sir Edward Belcher is one of nine polar explorers whose coastal encounters are marked; they can be deciphered with a color-coded key below the title. These include James Ross (1848-9), John Richardson (1848-9), McClure (1850), Austin (1850), Penny (1850), Rae (1851) Kennedy (1852), Inglefield (1852-3) and Belcher (1852-53). Earlier expeditions are also noted within the map; for example, “Franklin’s Discoveries 1825” refer to his two overland expeditions (1819-1822, 1825-1827). The “Parry Islands (discovered 1819)” were the result of an expedition led by Edward Perry, who led three northern voyages between 1819 and 1825. Drawer Ref: Canada Stock#: 72085 Page 1 of 7 Barry Lawrence Ruderman Antique Maps Inc. 7407 La Jolla Boulevard www.raremaps.com (858) 551-8500 La Jolla, CA 92037 [email protected] Chart of the North-West Passage Discovered by Capt. McClure. H.M.S. Investigator, 1850-1853. From the Charts prepared at the Hydrographic Office, Admiralty . Second Edition with Sir E. Belcher's Discoveries Extending slighly further west than the Admiralty edition, the map stretches from Baffin Bay to the Bering Strait, the better to the see the voyages entering the area from both east and west. To the south is mainland North America, with Russian America—complete with an inland fort—divided from British Canada by a dotted boundary line. This boundary was negotiated at the Anglo-Russian Convention of 1825, where the Treaty of St. Petersburg set the limits of the empires’ reaches on the continent. Inland there is much detail including rivers, trading posts, and tribal names. Some details, like the Yukon River and the McKenzie River, with the Hudson’s Bay Company post Fort McPherson, are boldly marked. Others are printed in a lighter ink, indicating that their final locations and outlines are not fully corroborated. This tentative geography extends to the seas as well; there are supposed inlets and channels between still unmapped islands southwest of Baffin Bay. The main focus is on the passage that runs through the center of the chart, from Baffin Bay in the east, through Lancaster Sound and the Barrow Strait, into the Melville Strait, then around Baring Island (on its east or west side), and along the north coast of Alaska until one turns south through the Bering Strait. It was a perilous route, to be sure, but one that was navigable in the right season and if the ice was not too dense and extensive. Helping to trace this route are several tracks. A solid line shows the voyage of the HMS Investigator from the Bering Strait east and around Baring Island from 1850-1853—the ship was stuck in the ice for all of 1852. Then, a dotted line heads off from their winter quarters eastward starting in April 1853. These are the sledge parties that left the Investigator in search of rescue. These “Traveling Parties,” as they are called on the map, made it to Beechey Island, where they met the HMS Phoenix in August 1853 and sailed home to England. The track of the Phoenix is also on the map. Another track is a dotted line along the north coast of Alaska, a bit closer to shore than that of the Investigator. These are the boats of the HMS Plover, which was under the command of Thomas Moore. Moore, along with Henry Kellet in the HMS Herald, were part of the first expeditions sent to find Franklin from 1848-50. They were to wait for him in the western reaches of the passage, if he had gotten through. Kellett and the Herald were the last ship to see Investigator before it disappeared for three years, and Kellett would return to the Arctic in command of the famous HMS Resolute as part of Edward Belcher’s Franklin search expedition in 1852. As indicated in the title, this second edition was based on Admiralty charts. The first edition of the map was prepared by E. A. Inglefield, who commanded the HMS Phoenix on its 1852-3 voyage. It was drawn by Drawer Ref: Canada Stock#: 72085 Page 2 of 7 Barry Lawrence Ruderman Antique Maps Inc. 7407 La Jolla Boulevard www.raremaps.com (858) 551-8500 La Jolla, CA 92037 [email protected] Chart of the North-West Passage Discovered by Capt. McClure. H.M.S. Investigator, 1850-1853. From the Charts prepared at the Hydrographic Office, Admiralty . Second Edition with Sir E. Belcher's Discoveries W. H. Fawkener, second master. Fawkener later served in the Crimean War, where he was awarded a Crimean War Medal. The original manuscript of the map is held at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich (G285:4/36). Interestingly, the title especially indicates that this edition includes the findings of Edward Belcher, who abandoned four ships in the ice, including the HMS Resolute (of Resolute desk fame). However, Belcher’s track was included on the first edition as well. The Franklin expedition The exploratory tracks included here were sent out in search of what happened to the lost ships of Sir John Franklin, the HMS Erebus and HMS Terror. They also hoped to find the Northwest Passage, as all voyages to the area had for centuries. The nineteenth century marked a high point in the interest in finding an Arctic route to China. Earlier expeditions included that of John Ross, who made it to Baffin Bay and Lancaster Sound. Ross thought the Sound only an inlet, and went no further. He was followed by a voyage led by Edward Parry, who had been with Ross, in 1819. Parry wintered at Melville Island, gaining him an Admiralty prize for passing the 110th meridian west. On his second voyage, 1821-23, he probed the far north reaches of Hudson Bay. One his third voyage, of 1824-25, he searched for the Northwest Passage in the Prince Regent Inlet. Ross also returned to the Arctic, but neither man located the passage. Franklin himself had already sought the elusive feature. He led overland expeditions in 1819-1822 and 1825-27. While the first voyage was marked by privation, the second saw Franklin and his men chart over 1,000 miles of Arctic coastline. Other overland expeditions also made contributions, such as those of George Back (1833-35) and Peter Dease and Thomas Simpson (1837-9). Franklin was a career naval officer who participated in the Battle of Trafalgar at the age of 21. Most of his career was spent in Arctic exploration, however; Franklin participated in three Arctic expeditions before his fateful final foray. First, he served in the Dorothea, under Captain Buchan, and then was put in command of the Trent while they tried to reach the North Pole. Then, he led the two aforementioned overland expeditions. In 1845, Franklin set out in command of Terror and Erebus. He had suggested the voyage in search of the Northwest Passage and the government fit out the ships with state-of-the-art technology and instruments. They left Greenhithe on May 19, 1845 and were sighted by a whaler off of Baffin Island in late July. After Drawer Ref: Canada Stock#: 72085 Page 3 of 7 Barry Lawrence Ruderman Antique Maps Inc. 7407 La Jolla Boulevard www.raremaps.com (858) 551-8500 La Jolla, CA 92037 [email protected] Chart of the North-West Passage Discovered by Capt. McClure. H.M.S. Investigator, 1850-1853. From the Charts prepared at the Hydrographic Office, Admiralty . Second Edition with Sir E. Belcher's Discoveries that, the ships were never seen afloat again, nor were the men seen alive. By late 1847, it was clear that the expedition was in trouble or even lost. No less than 39 missions set out to find his men and ships over several decades; they hailed from Britain, the United States, France, and other countries. Many were spurred on by the advocacy of Jane Franklin, who worked tirelessly to raise funds and interest in finding her husband. Later voyages pieced together a rough approximation of what happened to Terror and Erebus. The ships sailed up the Wellington Channel and then headed south toward Beechey Island, where they wintered. In spring 1846, the ships reached the northernmost point of King William Island, but then were trapped in the ice in the McClintock Channel. By the spring of 1847, a small party reached Point Victory by traveling over the ice.
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