Beschreibung:

[RAE, John, Dr. (1813–1893)]. –– DICKENS, Charles (1812–1870). The Lost Arctic Voyagers [and] Dr. Rae’s Report [issued in four parts in: “Household Words: A Weekly Journal Conducted by Charles Dickens”]. London: [Bradbury and Evans], December 1854. 2 volumes bound in one (Vols. IX and X), 8vo. Contemporary half green calf gilt, raised bands gilt, red leather lettering–pieces gilt in two compartments, marbled edges (few spots of wear along joints and extreme ends). Provenance: T.A. Currie (contemporary bookseller’s ticket). FIRST EDITION and only edition of this work. Aside from being a prolific novelist, Charles Dickens was also the publisher, editor and major contributor to the weekly journal Household Words, which appeared between 1850 and 1859. Dickens shared the British public’s interest in the heroic endeavors of their Arctic explorers, and was deeply affected by the tragic Franklin story. Several weeks after Rae’s “Report to the Admiralty” appeared in The Times and The Illustrated London News, Dickens started a series of articles in Household Words titled “The Lost Arctic Voyagers” in which he closely examined all aspects of the alleged fate of John Franklin and his crew. Although Dickens held Rae in very high regard, he refused to believe Rae’s conclusion that cannibalism had taken place.