Bradford, William

Folio (24 1/4 x 19 1/4 in.; 617 x 487 mm). Half-title, title in red and black, dedication-leaf, 141 albumen prints by John Dunmore, George Critcherson and possibly Bradford, comprising: 25 large albumen prints mounted on thick card (including a magnificent double-page panorama of the Sermitsialik Glacier), and 116 of various sizes in the text; a few of the photographs partly faded or discolored, mostly at edges, as usual, but mounts unfoxed. Original brown morocco richly gilt by Leighton, Son & Hodge, sides with a large vignette of an arctic scene and elaborate decoration after a design by Bradford; skillfully rebacked. Tan buckram case.

Richard Manney (booklabel, his sale, Sotheby's New York, Oct 11, 1991, lot 23)

Gernsheim Incunabula of British Photography 570; Grolier Truthful Lens 24

First and only edition of the greatest of all illustrated books on the arctic and one of the nineteenth century's most spectacular photographically illustrated travel books.

In 1869 William Bradford, a New England marine and polar artist, chartered the steam ship The Panther, having secured the sponsorship of a wealthy patron Le Grand Lockwood. The aim was to venture as far north as ice would permit, deep into Melville Bay in Greenland, primarily to make sketches and also to explore the region. The photographers John L. Dunmore and George Critcherson from Boston, who had travelled with Bradford before, were hired and the noted Arctic explorer Dr Isaac Hayes joined the party. The three month summer trip was a great success; Bradford produced a large number of sketches and Dunmore and Critcherson exposed up to four hundred glass plates under the most extreme conditions. In 1871 and 1872 Bradford exhibited paintings and sketches in England to great acclaim and attracted the patronage of Queen Victoria. This prompted Bradford to conceive of an album of photographs and when Queen Victoria and other members of the Royal family added their names as subscribers (at a cost of 25 guineas), the 'album' was transformed into a lavish publication, requiring the capital of several publishers. Some three hundred copies were proposed, although it is not known how many were finally published.

The importance of Bradford's photographic record of the arctic is unparalleled and was recognized by his contemporaries, as demonstrated by Frederic Church's ownership of many of his prints.