This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 10/20/2022
[BELLINGSHAUSEN, Fabian Gottlieb Von (1778–1852)]. The Voyage of Captain Bellingshausen to the Antarctic Seas 1819-1821. Edited by Frank Debenham (1883–1965). London: The Hakluyt Society, 1945.
2 volumes, 8vo. Half-titles, frontispiece, 53 plates (8 folding), 2 folding maps loosely inserted in pockets at end of each volume. Original pictorial blue cloth gilt (evidence of bookplate removal in both volumes, else fine). Provenance: Lambeth Public Libraries (stamps to both title pages and a few others).
FIRST EDITION IN ENGLISH, translated from the 1831 original Russian language narrative, describing “one of the greatest of the voyages in the South Seas and the Antarctic” (Hill). It was edited by Frank Debenham, first Director of the Scott Polar Research Institute, the translation redone from one originally commissioned by W.S. Bruce, leader of the Scotia expedition, 1902-04. One of the first Hakluyt Society publications after World War II; only 500 copies were printed. Hill 112; Rosove 33.A1; Spence 117; Taurus 3.