CRANTZ, David.
The History of Greenland: Containing a Description of the Country, and Its Inhabitants.
London: Printed for the Brethren's Society , 1767.
$2,600.00
In Stock
Item Number: RRB-150760
+$500
"The man who did not relish the first part was no philosopher, and he who did not enjoy the second part, not Christian": Rare first edition of David Crantz's History of Greenland
First edition in English of Crantz's elaborate account of the history of Greenland. first published in German in 1765. Octavo, two volumes bound in full period-style full speckled calf with morocco spine labels lettered in gilt, gilt stamping to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, illustrated with two folding maps and seven copperplate engravings. Arctic Bibliography 3471. Sabin 17417. Ricks 72. In near fine condition. An excellent, very handsomely bound set.
David Crantz's The History of Greenland contains elaborate descriptions of the native people, geography, birds, mammals, fish, ice and weather conditions, and the history of the German Moravian mission established there in 1733. "In speaking of this work, Samuel Johnson declared that very few books had ever affected him so deeply, and that the man who did not relish the first part was no philosopher and he who did not enjoy the second part, no Christian" (Cox II:18). There is a section devoted to whaling, consisting of a description of the Greenland black whale and an account of its habits, the Jupiter whales, the humpback whale, the knotted whale, whales of Bermuda, the cachelot and its store of spermaceti, the white whale and the whaling industry in general.
The History of Greenland: Containing a Description of the Country, and Its Inhabitants.
$2,600.00
In Stock
