A Voyage towards the South Pole: Performed in the Years 1822-24 : Containing an Examination of the Antarctic Sea, and a Visit to Tierra del Fuego

James Weddell

London, Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green, 1825

[An Account of the first expedition to have wintered in the Antarctic regions.]  First ed.  Octavo. Bound in contemporary leather boards, rebacked on later cloth with half of the original spine label preserved. Hinges reinforced. Hand-colored frontispiece.  iv, 276 pages.  4 engraved plates, 8 maps (6 folding), and 2 folding plates of coastal profiles.  Dampstaining to plate at page 44. Foxing / spotting. Lacks ads at rear. Refs: Sabin 102431; Abbey, Travel 609; Hill 1843; Renard 1680; Rosove 345.A1; Spence 1246. 

Weddell sailed further south than anyone before him and discovered the sea in the South Ocean which is now named after him. This work is "interesting not only as the record of a voyage to what was then and for long after the highest southern latitude reached, but also as giving a survey of the South Shetlands, where many of the names - as 'Boyd's Straits,' 'Duff's Straits,' 'Sartoroius Island' - recall the names of the captains with whom Weddell had served" (DNB).  Contains a "Particular Account of the Inhabitants. To Which is Added, Much Useful Information on the Coasting Navigation of Cape Horn, and the Adjacent Lands, with Charts of Harbours, &c."  Includes a photograph of the portrait of James Weddell from the Royal Geographical Society with an inscription by Alexander Weddell.   Provenance: From the collection of United States Ambassador and diplomat, Alexander Weddell (1876-1948).  Weddell was US Ambassador to Argentina from 1933-1938.  Signed by Weddell, in 1916 at the American Consul in Athens.  Engraved book plate from Virginia House Museum.