Volume I, p. 68: aboard the Fram: We carried an extraordinarily copious library; presents of books were showered upon us in great quantities. I suppose the Fram’s library at the present moment contains at least 3,000 volumes.
p. 314-15, a tour of the Framheim base: The first thing that met my eyes was the library. There stood the Framheim library, and it made the same good impression as everything else—books numbered from 1 to 80 in three shelves. The catalogue lay by the side of them, and I cast my eye over it. Here were books to suit all tastes; ‘Librarian, Adolf Henrik Lindström,’ I read at the end. So he was librarian, too—truly a many-sided man.”
p. 329, after dinner: Pipes and books soon made their appearance.
Volume II. p. 16, during blizzard enroute to the Pole: We could only stay where we were, and console ourselves with the thought that it made no difference, as it had been decided that we were to remain here two days. But staying in the tent all day is never very amusing, especially when one is compelled to keep to one’s sleeping-bag the whole time. You soon get tired of talking, and you can’t write all day long, either. Eating is a good way of passing the time, if you can afford it, and so is reading, if you have anything to read; but as the menu is limited, and the library as a rule somewhat deficient on a sledging trip, these two expedients fall to the ground. [Amundsen says the one solution is a good nap.]
p. 254-55, trapped by a blizzard: In order to while away the time to some extent under depressing circumstances like these, I put into my diary on leaving Framheim a few loose leaves of a Russian grammar; Johansen solaced himself with a serial cut out of the Aftenpost; as far as I remember, the title of it as “The Red Rose and the White.” Unfortunately the story of the Two Roses was very soon finished; but Johansen had a good remedy for that: he simply began it over again. My reading had the advantage of being incomparably stiffer. Russian verbs are uncommonly difficult of digestion, and not to be swallowed in a hurry.
p. 282: The rest of the vessel was absolutely full. To take an example, in the fore-saloon we had placed forty-three sledging cases which were filled with books, Christmas presents, underclothing, and the like.
p. 374, Appendix II: In addition various books were taken, such as Mohn’s “Meteorology,” The Meteorological Institutes “Guide,” psychrometric tables, Wiebe’s steam-pressure tables for hyposometer observations, etc.
For further notes on Amundsen see the entries for Roland Huntford under 1910-14 British National Antarctic Expedition below.