THE VOYAGE OF THE CHALLENGER BY SIR C WYVILLE THOMSON

THE VOYAGE OF THE CHALLENGER BY SIR C WYVILLE THOMSON

The Voyage of the Challenger by Sir C Wyville Thomson
The Atlantic. A Preliminary Account of the General Results of the Exploring Voyage of HMS ‘Challenger’ during the year 1873 and the early part of the year 1876, 2 vols., 8vo, pp. xxix [+ i], l f., 396, 42 plates, folding or double-page, maps or diagrams, many colour, and numerous full-page and smaller text illustrated, contemporary half blue calf, spines richly gilt, raised bands, labels, marbled boards with matching end-papers and edges (light intermittent spotting), London, Macmillan & Co., 1877.

First Edition. Smart set of this account of the epoch-making voyage by the director of the expedition, a joint venture between the Admiralty and the Royal Society. The present work provides a useful overview of the voyage, the scientific results of which were published in 50 volumes, 1880-1885. The ‘Challenger’ covered 79,300 miles between 1872-1876, and could claim to be the first major oceanographic trip. The enormously detailed results, and the specimens taken, formed a ‘time capsule’ of the state of the ocean, and the results are still of interest and use today.