BELLOT, Joseph René

Journal of a voyage to the polar seas carried out in search of John Franklin, in 1851 and 1852. Preceded by a notice on his life and the works of the author by Mr. Julien Lemer. Paris, Perrotin, 1854. In-8 (222 x 138 mm) with a steel-engraved frontispiece portrait, LXVI, 414 pp. 1 large folding map with a facsimile. Black half-chagrin, spine ribbed, blue printed cover preserved (Lobstein-Laurenchet). First edition. The diary of Joseph Bellot (1826-53), one of the great heroes of the Arctic exploration, published posthumously. It relates his stay in an expedition in search of Sir John Franklin, as second in command to Captain William Kennedy on the Prince Albert. The expedition, which took place between 1851 and 1852, included an extensive overland journey by sledge. Although they were unable to find Franklin's lost ships, they made important discoveries in the Canadian Arctic and returned to England with the entire crew safe and sound. Bellot was not so lucky on the next expedition in search of Franklin the following year - he fell through the ice in the Wellington Channel and disappeared. His fellow crew members erected a memorial grave on Beechey Island, next to three graves of the lost Franklin expedition.