PETER THE WHALER; His Early Life and Adventures in the Arctic Regions and Other Parts of the World

An early reprint of the first Boston edition, essentially identical to the first issue. With an engraved frontispiece, pictorially decorated titlepage and three engraved plates, including one of a whaling scene and one of an Eskimo village. 8vo, publisher's original dark brown cloth, the covers decorated in blind with an ornate framework surrounding a sailing ship, the spine lettered and pictorially decorated in gilt. viii, 389pp. A bright copy, very skillfully rebacked preserving most of the original gilt-decorated cloth from the spine, flies renewed, inner hinges strengthened, the corners a bit worn, internally quite fresh, a few pages with minor foxing but they are by far the minority.

Edizione: a very nice copy of this fantastic work of nautical fiction. the book is especially noteworthy for its fine descriptions of arctic conditions, clearly based on contemporary explorers accounts.<br> in the 1830s peter lefroy, wild son of vicar in ireland, is sent off to sea in an emigrant ship bound for quebec. this is the start of a life of adventure which includes the fur trade, travels from canada to new orleans, being captured and escaping from pirates, joining a u. s. navy expedition to the arctic, hitting n iceberg, joining a whaling ship, another shipwreck, living with eskimos, being rescued again, and finally shipwrecked again on the coast of ireland within walking distance to where this entire journey began!