Chart of the Discoveries made in the Arctic Regions 1829–33 — Ross 1835 map

'To His Most Excellent Majesty William IVth, King of Great Britain, Ireland &c. This Chart of the Discoveries made in the Arctic Regions, in 1829, 30, 31, 32, & 33, is dedicated with His Majesty’s gracious permission by His Majesty’s loyal and devoted subjects John Ross, Captain Royal Navy, James Clark Ross, Commander Royal Navy.' This large chart of Ross’s discoveries is the key cartographic statement of the 1829–33 expedition, summarising the search for a North-West Passage, the exploration of Boothia Felix and James Clark Ross’s journeys to the North Magnetic Pole. Once again, however, Ross encountered controversy with his cartography. In 1830 James Clark Ross had charted three islands in James Ross Strait and named them the Beaufort Islands. John Ross himself never saw the islands, but back in England, using his authority as expedition leader, he renamed them the Clarence Islands and added further fictional islands to the group, apparently to impress William IV. The map is therefore both a major polar document and a revealing act of self-aggrandisement.