Travels through the Interior Parts of North-

Carver, Jonathan.
  • 1766-68 British Overland Journey to North America (led by Jonathan Carver).
  • Arctic Reading: Great Britain
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America, in the Years 1766, 1767, and 1768. (London: Printed for the Author; And Sold by J. Walter, 1778).

A Voyage Towards the North Pole Undertaken by his Majesty’s Command 1773.

Phipps, Constantine John (Lord Mulgrave). London: Bowyer and Nichols, 1774.
  • 1773 British Expedition from Spitsbergen towards the North Pole (commanded by Constantine Phipps with the Racehorse and Carcass).
  • Arctic Reading: Great Britain
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Phipps was sent to determine the navigability of the North Pole from Spitsbergen, Phipps's expedition was initially hampered by ice. By sailing east and then northward again from Woodfjorden, the expedition attained a new furthest north of 80° 48'N, a record not surpassed until 1806 (by Scoresby). A solid ice wall blocked further progress, and the ships remained off Spitsbergen making scientific observations. The Voyage contains much information relating to Spitsbergen, though not the famous account of a meeting between a polar bear and a young Horatio Nelson, the expedition's midshipman. In spite of the expedition's relative success, other concerns precluded official British involvement in Arctic exploration until the expeditions of 1818 under Ross.

A Narrative of the Voyages Round the World, Performed by Captain James Cook. With an Account of His Life, During the Previous and Intervening Periods.

Kippis, Andrew. London: Bickers and Son, 1883.
  • 1768–79 British Naval Expeditions of Captain James Cook.
  • Arctic Reading: Great Britain
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p. 223: Soon after our commander had come to this determination [to sail to the Cape of Good Hope], he demanded of the officers and petty officers, in pursuance of his instructions, the log books and journals they had kept; which were delivered to him accordingly, and sealed up for the inspection of the Admiralty. He enjoined them also, and the whole crew, not to divulge where they had been, till they were permitted to do so by their lordships; an injunction, a compliance with which might probably be rendered somewhat difficult from the natural tendency there is in men to relate the extraordinary enterprises and adventures wherein they have been concerned.

The Bibliographical Miscellany.

Petheram, John, ed. 5 numbers printed. (London: John Russell Smith,1859).
  • 1812-13 British Naval Expedition in Northwest Passage Search (commanded by Thomas Button aboard Resolution).
  • Arctic Reading: Great Britain
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The first three numbers of this journal deal with the North-West Passage and the 1612-13 voyage of Sir Thomas Button.

The Life of Sir John Richardson.

McIlraith, John. (London: Longmans, 1868).
  • Arctic Reading: Great Britain
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A typical Victorian biography of an exemplary life, with a good deal of material from his journals, and considerable emphasis on Richardson’s religious convictions.

A Voyage of Discovery, Made under the Orders of the Admiralty, in His Majesty’s Ships Isabella and Alexander, for the Purpose of Exploring Baffin’s Bay, and Inquiring into the Probability of a North-West Passage.

Ross, Sir John. Second edition. Two volumes.(London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, 1819).
  • 1818 First British Northwest Passage Expedition (John Ross aboard Isabella with the Alexander).
  • Arctic Reading: Great Britain
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The first nineteenth-century attempt to locate a Northwest Passage was commanded by John Ross, a moderately successful expedition that ruined his reputation. John Barrow of the Admiralty was so outraged at Ross’s failure to explore fully Lancaster Sound that he did everything in his power to discredit Ross after this expedition.

Letters Written during the Late Voyage of Discovery in the Western Arctic Sea.

By an Officer of the Expedition. London: Printed for Sir Richard Phillips, 1821.
  • 1819-20 British Voyage of Discovery to the Arctic Regions (Edward Parry aboard Hecla and Griper).
  • Arctic Reading: Great Britain
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The letters are ostensibly addressed to a Brother of the officer-author named Thomas, giving in the first paragraph the conclusion “that a practical communication by sea, round the northern coasts of North America, is not to be attained. The letters recount an officer’s view of the second Parry voyage of 1819, which wintered in Winter Harbour, produced work of the Royal Arctic Theatre, and started a ship’s newspaper. This account gives ample evidence of Parry’s benevolent rule over the men and his religious dedication. Possible authors of these letters were officers Matthew Liddon, Edward Sabine, Henry Hoppner, and Frederick Beechey. [Find the author??]

The North Georgia Gazette, and Winter Chronicle.

London: John Murray, 1821. [Reprint edition of paper circulated aboard Hecla on Parry’s Northwest Passage expedition, 1819-20.].
  • 1819-20 British Voyage of Discovery to the Arctic Regions (Edward Parry aboard Hecla and Griper).
  • Arctic Reading: Great Britain
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Monday, the 1st of November, 1819, will ever be memorable in the history of literature. On that day appeared, composed, edited, but not printed, within the arctic circle, within fifteen degree of the North Pole of the earth, the first number of the “North Georgian Gazette, or Winter Chronicle;”—a work, take it all in all, without a fellow.

Narrative of a Journey to the Shores of the Polar Sea, in the Years 1819, 20, 21, and 22. By John Franklin…with an Appendix on Various Subjects Relating to Science and Natural History [Dr. John Richardson]

Franklin, Sir John. London: John Murray, 1823.
  • 1819-22 and 1825-27 John Franklin Overland Journeys with John Richardson.
  • Arctic Reading: Great Britain
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p. 258: … I shall mention briefly, that a considerable portion of it was occupied in writing up our journals. Some newspapers and magazines, that we had received from England with our letters, were read again and again, and commented upon, at our meals; and we often exercised ourselves with conjecturing the changes that might take place in the world before we could hear from it again. The probability of our receiving letters, and the period of their arrival, were calculated to a nicety…. The Sabbath was always a day of rest with us; the woodmen were required to provide for the exigencies of that day on Saturday, and the party were dressed in their best attire. Divine service was regularly performed, and the Canadians attended, and behaved with great decorum, although they were all Roman Catholics, and but little acquainted with the language in which the prayers were read. I regretted much that we had not a French Prayer-Book, but the Lord's Prayer and Creed were always read to them in their own language.

Journey to the Polar Sea

Franklin, Sir John. Koln: Koenemann, 1998.
  • 1819-22 and 1825-27 John Franklin Overland Journeys with John Richardson.
  • Arctic Reading: Great Britain
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p. 21: The commander of the vessel [Harmony] gave me a translation of the Gospel of St. John in the Esquimaux language, printed by the Moravian Society in London.

Narrative of a Second Expedition to the Shores of the Polar Sea, in the Years 1825, 1826, and 1827,… Including an Account of the Progress of a Detachment to the Eastward, by John Richardson.

Franklin, John, Sir. London: John Murray, 1828. [Facsimile ed. NY: Greenwood Press, 1969].
  • 1819-22 and 1825-27 John Franklin Overland Journeys with John Richardson.
  • Arctic Reading: Great Britain
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p. xvii, on supplies for the expedition: There was likewise an ample stock of tobacco, a small quantity of wine and spirits, marquees and tents for the men and officers, some books, writing and drawing paper, a considerable quantity of cartridge-paper, to be used in preserving specimens of plants…together with many articles to be used at winter-quarters, for the service of the post, and for the supply of our Indian hunters….

Arctic Searching Expedition: A Journal of a Boat-Voyage through Rupert’s Land and the Arctic Sea, in Search of the Discovery Ships under Command of Sir John Franklin.

Richardson, Sir John. Two volumes. London: Longman, Brown, 1851.
  • Arctic Reading: Great Britain
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Volume I: p. 49-50: the equipment which Richardson and John Rae landed in New York on April 10, 1848 included astronomical and meteorological instruments and: An ample supply of paper for botanical purposes, a quantity of paper, a small selection of books, a medicine chest, a canteen, a compendious cooking apparatus, and a few tines of pemican, completed our baggage, which weighed in the aggregate, above 4000 pounds.

Heroes of Britain in Peace and War

Hodder, Edwin. London: Cassell & Company, post-1860s.
  • 1819-22 and 1825-27 John Franklin Overland Journeys with John Richardson.
  • Arctic Reading: Great Britain
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Another account of prayer-book reading on the Franklin/Richardson overland journeys, attempting to explain what kept them from total despair: