HENDRIK, Hans (c. 1834-1889). Memoirs of…The Arctic Traveller, serving under Kane, Hayes, Hall and Nares, 1853-1876. Translated from the Eskimo language by Henry Rink. Edited by George Stephens. London: [T. Pettitt and Co. for] Trübner & Co., 1878.
8vo (181 x 146 mm). Frontispiece map (some spotting). Contemporary half black morocco, green textured sides, upper cover stamped with a supralibros of the New South Wales Library of Parliament, spine in 6 compartments with raised bands, gilt-lettering in 2, others with gilt centerpieces, edges marbled. (Light intermittent spotting).
FIRST EDITION, THE RARE FIRST ARCTIC NARRATIVE BY AN INUIT. Hendrik was hired as a hunter and Inuit translator by the American explorer Elisha Kent for the 1853-55 Second Grinnell Expedition to search for the lost Franklin expedition. Hendrik was a valuable addition to Kane’s crew, especially during the second winter when the entire crew was sick or injured. “With morale low and provisions almost exhausted, Hans remained cheerful and continued to hunt when all but he and Kane were sick or injured. Kane repeatedly paid tribute to Hans’s labours and at one point wrote: ‘If Hans gives way, God help us’” (DCB). Hendrik tracked the Franklin’s sledge track, which brought the rescue party to the men who were lying frozen and disabled somewhere northwest of the ship. He would go on to accompany several major Arctic expeditions including Charles Francis Hall’s 1871 expedition. Hendrik was among the party left behind when 19 of the crew members broke away from the Polaris on an ice flow in October 1872. The party survived a remarkable six-month drift southward through the Davis Strait. The entire party survived due to the efforts of Hendrick and Ipilkvik (Joe Ebierbing), a Canadian Inuk.