BEECHEY, Frederick William.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

A Voyage of Discovery Towards the North Pole, First edition, a fine copy. Beechey's describes the Royal Navy's last attempt to sail to the north pole, subsequent journeys being made with sledges and small boats. His narrative is much enlivened by the attractive plates after his own drawings, one depicting the party attacked by walruses.Beechey "served as second-in-command to John Franklin aboard HMS Trent in 1818 when David Buchan in HMS Dorothea and Franklin attempted to sail across the North Pole to Asia, a voyage frustrated by icepack. This book is the standard account, written much later in Beechey's distinguished career" (Books on Ice). From 1850, Beechey superintended the Board of Trade's marine department. "He was consulted on all Arctic issues, including the search for Sir John Franklin by the Arctic council... In 1855 he was elected president of the Royal Geographical Society, an office which he still held at his death, on 29 November 1856... Beechey was an outstanding professional hydrographer who served in the last years of heroic endeavour" (ODNB).

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