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GREELY, Adolphus W. (1844-1935). Three Years of Arctic Service. An Account of the Lady Franklin Bay Expedition of 1881-84. London: Richard Bentley and Son, 1886. Large 8vos. 2 Volumes. xxv, 428, xii, [1], 444 pp, 44 plates including frontispieces with tissue guards (including engraved portrait of Greely), plus 9 maps (with some edge fraying to one large fold-out map at rear of Volume II due to overlapping the page edges), 2 Appendices, Index. Complete. Original publisher's dark blue cloth with Arctic pictorial on front boards, bright gilt spine title lettering, dark brown clay endpapers, very light foxing on some leaves; hinges strong although showing beginning signs of cracking; prior ownership small signature and stamp on 2nd front free endleaf, each title page lightly stamped with prior ownership marking dated the year of publication. Very good. THE SCARCE FIRST ENGLISH EDITION, PUBLISHED IN THE SAME YEAR AND COLLATION AS THE TRUE FIRST AMERICAN EDITION. Arctic Bibliography 6118. This narrative of the Lady Franklin Bay Expedition by the leader, Lt. Adolphus Greely, includes accounts of the battle with ice on the sea, the sledge journeys, the life of the men in camp and on the march, and the geography of territory explored, with a chapter on polar ice. Well-illustrated and greatly detailed, the account combines narrative from journal excerpts to tell the story of one of the most celebrated and tragic of Arctic expeditions. The preface gives a good insight on the author. Though he is a stolid writer, it is an outstanding narrative. Appendices include notes on ethnology, natural history, ornithology, botany, and auroral displays. An excellent account of the American expedition of 1881-84.