PRESENTATION-COPY IN A GIFT BINDING
GRAAH, W.A.
Undersøgelses-Reise til Østkysten af Grønland. Efter kongelig Befaling udført i Aarene 1828-31.
Kiøbenhavn, J. D. Qvist, 1832.
4to (255 x 215 mm). In a magnificent red moiré paper covered gift binding. Gilt ornamental borders to boards. All edges gilt. With the author's presentation inscription to the front free endpaper: “Til / Hr. Etatsraad Horneman, Ridder af / Dannebrogen, ærbödigst / fra / Graah.” (i.e. in English: “To Mr. Councillor of State Horneman, Knight of / the Order of the Dannebrog, most respectfully / from / Graah.”). Light wear to binding, edges of boards bumped and with minor loss of paper. Spine with some scratches and spine-ends chipped. The folded map with a closed tear, reinforced at the folds. Printed on velin paper. Internally very nice and clean, with the hand-colouring vibrantly preserved - overall a magnificent copy. XVII, (1), 216 pp. + 8 hand-coloured plates (with tissue guards preserved) and 1 large folding map.
Presentation-copy of the first edition of the account of the Royal Danish expedition to the East coast of Greenland in 1828, printed from its Commander's diary containing fine hand-colored plates depicting Eskimo umiaks and kayaks, their implements and summer dwellings and ruins of Norse settlements. “The Danes did not find any settlement where they searched on the eastern coast, and the men endured harrowing conditions and near starvation during three winters. Graah's work opens with a brief history of the exploration and colonization of Greenland before recounting his own expedition. Observations on the Greenlandic Inuit are incorporated as well.” (Macdougall, Narrative of an Expedition to the East Coast of Greenland, 2014) Graah named the southeastern coast of Greenland the King Frederick VI Coast and mapped about 550 km of formerly uncharted territory. Although he had been asked to reach 69°, Graah fell short of his goal of going further north owing to innumerable hardships. He made numerous contacts with the now extinct Southeast-Greenland Inuit, describing in detail some of their customs and way of life. Arctic Bibliography 6032
The present copy was given by Graah to Jens Wilken Hornemann, presented in a magnificent red gift binding. Hornemann was one of the leading Danish botanists of the period, professor of botany at the University of Copenhagen and director of the Botanical Garden. Jens Laurentius Vahl (1796–1854), who participated in Graah’s expedition as botanist, studied under Hornemann. Vahl’s father, Martin Vahl, had been Hornemann’s mentor and predecessor as director of the Botanical Garden suggesting that Graah and Hornemann moved within the same closely connected Copenhagen scientific circles and most likely knew each other personally.
In 1828, a Danish expedition was sent from Copenhagen under the command of the naval officer and explorer Wilhelm August Graah (1793-1863). Its goal was to locate lost Norse settlements on the coast of Greenland, which had existed in certain places from around the turn of the millennium until their collapse some centuries later.
Sabin 28178
Order-nr.: 63171
DKK 45.000,00