[Wandesforde, J.B.]:

$3,250 · Offered by William Reese Company · No longer available

DR. KANE AT THE GRAVES OF SIR JOHN FRANKLIN'S MEN. FOR SUBSCRIBERS TO THE NEW YORK "ALBION." 1858 [caption title]. A striking print, presenting the scene of the famous Arctic explorer, Elisha Kent Kane, standing before the graves of Sir John Franklin's men. The graves, dating from 1846 and located on Beechey Island, are for three seamen from the Franklin expedition who died. Kane is pictured in the frozen Arctic, looking to the left, and standing before three grave markers with the names of the dead explorers. He is dressed head to toe in furs and carries a telescope. Large, dark glaciers rise out of the background and his ship, the Advance, is seen on the left.British explorer Sir John Franklin and his expedition of more than 125 men were lost and died during his third Arctic exploration, around 1850. After a few years, several British and American groups set out to find them. Elisha Kane was the senior medical officer of the first United States Grinnell expedition in 1850, and commanded the second Grinnell expedition of 1853–55. His heroism on that expedition and the fame gained from his subsequent book, Arctic Explorations, and lecture tour, launched him to international stardom. "Arctic Explorations lay for a decade with the Bible on almost literally every parlor table in America" - DAB. Kane, who was of frail health due to childhood illness and was exhausted by his explorations and touring, died in Havana on his thirty-seventh birthday, in 1857. The present image was ori

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