Beschreibung:

WILLIAM GORDON BURN MURDOCH (1862-1939) From Edinburgh to the Antarctic An artist's notes and sketches during the Dundee Antarctic expedition of 1892-93... with a chapter by W.S. Bruce naturalist of the barque 'Balaena' . London & New York: T. & A. Constable for Longmans, Green & Co., 1894. 8° (218 x 140mm.). 32pp. publisher's advertisements at back with date-code '' (i.e. December 1896) on final page. Title vignette, 2 maps, one folding, one printed in blue and black, illustrations, 8 full-page, all after Murdoch. Original green pebble-grain cloth, upper cover blocked in silver and brown, spine lettered in silver, black glazed endpapers (lower outer corners of covers slightly affected by damp, head and foot of spine slightly bumped). FIRST EDITION, second issue with 'W.G.Burn Murdoch' on the spine. 'This was an important whaling expedition to the Weddell Sea, the first of its kind since 1843' (Taurus). 'Murdoch's narrative covers the voyage south at great length ... providing a fascinating picture of shipboard life, together with chanteys [sic.] and yarns in Scottish dialect. The Falkland Islands account is well detailed ... The Antarctic portion of the narrative ... contains astute observations of the wildlife and sealing operations. Bruce contibuted a chapter summarizing the scientific observations' (Rosove). Rosove notes that the first issue (234.A1b) is bound in smooth cloth, with 'Murdoch' on the spine and 24pp. of advertisements dated 1894. Conrad p.74; Rosove 234.A1a; Spence 825; Taurus 12.