Three Years of Artic Service. An Account of the Lady Franklin Bay Expedition of 1881-84 and the Attainment of the Farthest North. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1886. First Edition. Two Volumes. Pp (1) xxv, 428; (2) xii, 444 Publishers dark blue pictorial cloth boards, lettered in silver & gilt. Light shelf-wear to bindings with fade stain to upper cover of vol (1). Contents pages in fine bright condition.

Illustrated with nearly One Hundred Illustrations made from Photographs taken by the Party, and with the Official Maps and Charts. Large folded ‘Chart of the Artic Ocean’ in pouch to rear of volume two.

Both volumes inscribed on title page: “Editorial Copy. With Compliments Charles Scribner’s Sons.”

The story of Adolphus Greely on the Lady Franklin Bay Expedition. His mission to the Arctic was to conduct meteorological observations and collect polar magnetic field data. After supply trips failed to reach the expedition, the crew was forced to retreat south with inadequate supplies. From the crew of 25 explorers, 19 perished due to starvation and disease. The expedition became infamous for the stories of cannibalism that spread in the media. Captain Winfield Scott Schley was able to rescue the remaining crew in 1884.