Journal d'un Voyage aux Mers Polaires Execute a la Recherche de Sir John Franklin en 1851 et 1852

$400 · Offered by Book Collector Inc

Author: Joseph Rene Bellot (1826-1853) Year: 1854 Publisher: Perrotin, Libraire-Editeur Place: Paris Description: lvi+414+[1] pages with frontispiece portrait, facsimile letter and folding map. Octavo (8 1/2" x 5") bound in half leather over marbled boards with red leather gilt spine label. (Arctic Bibliography, 1304) First edition. In June 1844 Bellot embarked as naval cadet on the corvette Berceau for a voyage to the Indian Ocean. During this tour of service he was seriously wounded in a joint Anglo-French naval strike against the port of Tamatave in Madagascar on 15 June 1845, and for his part in this action he was nominated a knight of the Legion of Honour on 2 Dec. 1845. After a brief service aboard the frigate Belle-Poule in 1846, Bellot returned to France and was promoted sub-lieutenant on 1 Nov. 1847. Following a two-year tour of duty aboard the corvette Triomphante he returned to Rochefort on 25 Aug. 1850. During a period of inactivity following his return to France, Bellot developed an interest in the search for Sir John Franklin , lost in the Arctic since 1845. Until 1850 the search efforts had been sustained exclusively by the English-speaking world and Bellot felt that the concern of the French, and of seamen everywhere, should also be demonstrated. In mid March 1851 he wrote letters to Lady Franklin, who was then organizing her second private search expedition. Bellot impressed Lady Franklin at once and she confirmed his appointment after their first interview.

• Binding: Hardcover

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