Description
SIR GEORGE BACK Autograph Letter Signed.
British Arctic explorer, naval officer, naturalist and artist.
ALS. 1p plus integral blank leaf. Gloucester Place, Port[ma]n Square. December 13th 1850. To Parker-Hammond Jnr. Esq.
"I have to apologise for not answering your note earlier, but have much pleasure in complying with your request."
8vo. Approx 7.25 x 4.5 inches. Some old mounting traces to verso of integral blank leaf and one small edge tear to foot of integral blank leaf. All else fine.
Admiral Sir George Back joined the Royal Navy as a boy volunteer and took part in the Napoleonic Wars, being captured by the French in 1809. He was part of John Franklin's first arctic expedition in 1818 and also accompanied him on the overland expeditions in North America from 1819 to 1822. Back subsequently took part in the MacKenzie River Expedition of 1824-26. Sir George Back commanded the Back River Expedition in 1833 in search of the missing explorer, Sir John Ross. In 1836 he led the Frozen Strait Expedition to explore uncharted and unvisited territory to the north of Hudson Bay. In addition to being a skilled navigator, Back was also a talented naturalist and artist. In later life, he gained an unenviable reputation as being quarrelsome, a dandy and a womaniser.
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