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An Arctic Voyage That Made History
Imagine a wooden expedition ship frozen into the sea along the remote Siberian coast, its crew facing months of bitter cold while the route to the Pacific lay tantalizingly close. This was the world of the Vega: a voyage of scientific discovery, endurance, and one of the great achievements of nineteenth-century exploration.
Offered here is the 1882 first American edition of A. E. Nordenskiöld’s The Voyage of the Vega Round Asia and Europe, translated by Alexander Leslie and published by Macmillan and Co., New York.
The expedition accomplished the first complete navigation of the Northeast Passage, tracing a route from the Atlantic to the Pacific along the northern coast of Europe and Asia. Nordenskiöld’s account brings together the adventure of the voyage, scientific observations, encounters with Arctic communities, and the long history of earlier attempts to explore these formidable waters.
All of the folding maps remain present in this copy, an especially desirable feature of an illustrated exploration book of this age. Please read the map-condition disclosure below: every folding map has a tear.
A Handsome Leather Binding
This copy has a striking half-leather binding, with brown leather at the spine and corners surrounding richly patterned marbled-paper boards. The spine carries gilt lettering, decorative ornaments, and ruled compartments.
The marbling continues across the page edges and endpapers, giving the book a coordinated appearance from nearly every angle. Burgundy, blue-green, cream, and touches of yellow create an especially attractive period pattern.
The binding shows its age, particularly in the rubbed and crazed leather, but retains considerable visual appeal for a collector’s library.
Exploration, Science & Historic Cartography
The book offers far more than a straightforward travel narrative. Its subjects include:
The Vega expedition and the navigation of the Northeast Passage.
Arctic ice, coastal geography, and the challenges of northern navigation.
Siberian communities and the expedition’s observations of local life.
Natural history and scientific investigation.
Earlier voyages along the northern coast of the Old World.
Historic maps documenting changing European knowledge of northern lands.
The title page describes the work as illustrated with five steel portraits, numerous maps, and illustrations. The photographed frontispiece depicts Nordenskiöld with a printed facsimile signature beneath his portrait; this is not represented as a handwritten autograph. A portrait of King Oscar II, a supporter of the expedition, is also shown.
Publication Details
Author: A. E. Nordenskiöld
Title: The Voyage of the Vega Round Asia and Europe
Subtitle: With a Historical Review of Previous Journeys Along the North Coast of the Old World
Translator: Alexander Leslie
Publisher: Macmillan and Co.
Place: New York
Date: 1882
Edition: First American edition; single-volume publication
Binding: Half leather with marbled boards, endpapers, and page edges
Maps: All folding maps present
Condition — Please Read
An attractive antique copy with the following condition points:
Every folding map has an approximately 1–2-inch tear, apparently from having been started to turn like an ordinary page before being recognized as a foldout.
All maps remain present despite these tears.
The first few pages remain attached but are beginning to loosen.
Very light foxing overall, with some age toning and discoloration around the preliminary leaves and portrait tissue guards.
Leather exhibits rubbing, surface crazing, and wear, particularly along the spine, joints, corners, and extremities.
Marbled boards show surface scuffs and edge wear.
An inner hinge shows visible partial wear/separation, as photographed.
A preliminary blank leaf has an irregular area of paper loss along its upper edge.
Please examine the photographs carefully. This is a collectible nineteenth-century exploration book with disclosed binding and map faults, and it should be handled gently.
A compelling combination of Arctic exploration history, surviving folding maps, and a richly decorative leather-and-marbled binding.
Folding Maps Included
Northern Europe, 1482: Reproduced from Nicholas Donis’s edition of Ptolemy’s Cosmographia.
The North, 1532: Reproduced from Jakob Ziegler’s Schondia, showing early ideas of Scandinavian geography.
Northern Europe, 1567: Reproduced from Olaus Magnus’s work on the northern peoples.
Arctic Coastal Survey Charts: A combined plate showing Port Dickson, Cape Bolvan on Vaygats Island, the Lena’s cruise in Malygin Sound, and Cape Chelyuskin.
Barents’s Third Voyage: A historic chart reproduced from Pontanus’s 1611 publication.
Russian Map of the North Polar Sea: An early seventeenth-century map published by Isaac Massa in 1612.
Taimur Sound and Actinia Bay: Two expedition survey charts by Giacomo Bove.
River System of Siberia: Showing Siberia’s great rivers and drainage Map of Russia, 1550: A photolithographic reproduction of the historic map.
The Vega’s Expedition Route: A chart of the northern coast from Norway to the Bering Strait, showing the Vega’s track, compiled by N. Selander.
The historic dates above refer to the original maps reproduced in the book; All ten folding map plates remain present, but each has an approximately 1–2-inch tear.
