A journey from Prince of Wales's Fort in Hudson's Bay to the northern ocean: Undertaken by order of the Hudson's Bay Company for the discovery of copper mines, a north west passage, &c. in the years 1769, 1770, 1771, & 1772

Author: Hearne, Samuel (1745-1792)Year: 1795Publisher: Printed for A Strahan and T CadellPlace: LondonDescription:xliv+458 pages with two (of four) engraved plates after drawings by the author (both folding) and four (of five) folding engraved maps. Quarto (11 3/4" x 9 3/4") bound in full leather with raised spine bands and gilt lettering to spine. (HillI, page 141. Sabin 31181) First edition.Manuscript journal was found by La Perouse when he captured Fort Albany; later one of his conditions of surrender was that it be published. Samuel Hearne was an explorer, fur-trader, author, and naturalist. He was the first European to make an overland excursion across northern Canada to the Arctic Ocean In 1774 Hearne built Cumberland House for the Hudson's Bay Company, its first interior trading post and the first permanent settlement in present Saskatchewan. From 1769 to 1772, Hearne was employed in north-western discovery, searching especially for certain copper mines described by Indians as "