Lot 550
After Dr. Edward Lawton Moss, of H.M.S. “Alert” (1843-1880)
Lot 550 Details
After Dr. Edward Lawton Moss, of H.M.S. “Alert” (1843-1880), Irish
POLAR SKETCHES (SIXTEEN CHROMO-LITHOGRAPHS FROM WATERCOLOUR DRAWINGS MADE IN THE POLAR REGIONS DURING THE EXPEDITION OF 1875-6, 1878)
folio of 16 colour chromolithographs mounted on heavy paper support as issued; each sheet numbered from 1 to 16 in ink in a later hand verso. Contained in a green hard cover folio with gilt lettered title mounted on cover.
Published by Marcus Ward & Co., London and Belfast in 1878. Lacking the original typeset text to each plate, the folio is accompanied by 16 sheets of 20th/21st century handwritten text after the original printed sheets including the “Preface” and descriptive notes to the plates numbered I to XVI with their titles.
Images/Sheets/Overall 7.6" x 11" — 19.4 x 27.9 cm.; 15.7" x 19.3" — 40 x 49 cm.; 19.5" x 15.75" — 49.5 x 40 cm.
Estimate $600-$800
Additional Images
Provenance:
Purchased by the present Private Collection, Belfountain, Ontario from P.J. Radford, prints, London, circa 1974
Note:
The original sketches were all executed by Dr. Edward L. Moss, author, artist, explorer and pioneering medical officer who served on board the HMS Alert on the Arctic expedition which left England on the 29th of May, 1875. He entered the Arctic regions on the 4th of July in the same year. Although the expedition returned to England having failed to reach the North Pole - with the ship’s crews suffering from scurvy – it was highly celebrated by the British public.
The folio is the most valuable source for the history of exploration in northern Canada. The sketches and watercolours for this series were also converted into slides for magic-lantern lectures.