p. 17: I have already mentioned that there were no maps on board that were of any use to us, and that I had copied our only existing map out of Nansen’s book. Other than that volume and Kolchak’s The Ice of the Siberian Sea , we had no other relevant works. Although Lieutenant Brusilov had bought a small library for hundreds of rubles before our departure, it contained only novels, stories, and old journals—not a single book of any use to us except Nansen’s Farthest North . Nansen was our only guide, and provided everything we knew about Franz Josef Land…. Drawing all our knowledge from Nansen’s experiences, we treated his book like a precious treasure. I had reread it so often that I could cite entire passages from memory. [Albanov also mentions an English technical journal that had charts for the altitude of the sun and astronomy charts for the period (p. 18).]
In the Land of White Death: an Epic Story of Survival in the Siberian Arctic.
- Arctic Reading: Russia
Siberia in Asia: A Visit to the Valley of the Yenesay in East Siberia….
- Arctic Reading: Russia
Seebohm was a knowledgeable ornithologist who occasionally mentions books and reading on his long trips in Siberia. In his Preface he compares his earlier volume on Siberia in Europe (1876?) to these later travels in which he had no expert birder: It is possible, however, that the general reader may not regret the change, and may find the
Siberia in Europe: A Visit to the Valley of the Petchora in North-East Europe.
- Arctic Reading: Russia
p. 3-4: My friend Harvie-Brown had been collecting information about the river Petchora for some time, and it was finally arranged that we should spend the summer of 1875 there together. We were under the impression that, ornithologically speaking, it was virgin ground, but in this we afterwards discovered that we were mistaken. So far as we were able to ascertain, no Englishman had travelled from Archangel to the Petchora for 250 years. In that curious old book called ‘Purchas his Pilgrimes,’ published in 1625, may be found the narrative of divers merchants and mariners who visited this river between the years 1611 and 1615 for the purpose of establishing a trade there in furs and skins, especially beaver, for which Ust-Zylma on the Petchora was at that time celebrated.
Vitus Bering: The Discoverer of Bering Strait….
- Arctic Reading: Russia
A defense of Baring and his achievements verging on hagiography, taking on his early critics quite convincingly.
Soviets in the Arctic: An Historical, Economic and Political Study of the Soviet Advance into the Arctic
- Arctic Reading: Russia
Chapter III (p. 73ff) spells out quite explicitly the purpose of this book: The Russian government must be completely Sovietized…. Politically, within the territory geographically located within the boundaries of the U.S.S.R., no tolerance can be shown toward any other form of government than that which was established by Lenin in 1917. The portion of the Arctic to be studied here is part of the Soviet Union.
A Winter Away from Home: William Barents and the North-East Passage.
- Arctic Reading: Russia
A rather homey account of Berents 3rd voyage, its wintering in ice haven, and its eventual discovery. Last chapter on Berent’s successors is particularly well done.
A True Description of Three Voyages by the North-East towards Cathay and China, Undertaken by the Dutch in the Years 1594, 1595, and 1596. …
- Arctic Reading: Russia
p. lix-lxii: The introduction has an inventory of the many relics found at the final site of Barents fatal expedition. No 75 includes the following items: A great number of prints from copper engravings, completely frozen together, including some of Goltzius; Pallas, Juno, and Venus, with Bosscher excudit; scenes from the Bible. “The manner of engraving the names of the engravers proves that all these must have been the work of the sixteenth century. It may seem strange that Arctic navigators had prints or engravings on board, but it is not at all so, for Heemskerck and Barendsz intended to go as far as China, when they sailed to the North-East. For that purpose they had merchandise on board, and prints or engravings were often used as such.
Journal of a Voyage with Bering, 1741-1742.
- Arctic Reading: Russia
p. 189: Footnote: Among the essential items [on Bering’s expedition] were three quadrants, one chronometer, one compass, one spyglass, eleven books of navigation, one bundle of charts, two bundles of calculations, and seven maps. [See Bancroft 90: n 14.]
Tent Life in Siberia and Adventures among the Koraks and Other Tribes in Kamchatka and Northern Asia.
- 1870? US Overland Siberian Journey of George Kennan.
- Arctic Reading: Russia
Kennan traveled by ship over Northern Pacific in abortive attempt to plan a trans-Pacific telegraph cable; covers his encounters with seasickness, native culture, and everything else.
The First Scientific Exploration of Russian America and the Purchase of Alaska
- Arctic Reading: Russia
This volume chiefly contains the journals of Robert Kennicott and Henry Martyn Bannister, Smithsonian naturalists, concerning Alaska immediately before statehood, and relates to their advice to Seward and Sumner.
Count Benyowsky; Or The Conspiracy of Kamtschatka: A Tragic-Comedy.
- Arctic Reading: Russia
Kotzebue, a German dramaist wrote this play about Benyovzky in 1798.In 1769, while fighting for the Polish armies under theBar Confederation, he was captured by the Russians and exiled toKamchatka. He subsequently escaped and returned to Europe viaMacauandMauritius, arriving in France.
A Voyage Around the World 1826-1829.
- Arctic Reading: Russia
Trip on Seniavin to survey coast of Kamchatka, the Okhotsk Sea, and the Shantar Islands. Travels from Kronstadt to Portsmouth, Rio, Valparaiso, Sitka, & Kamchatka. Stop in Sitka to observe the Russian colonies there under the Russian-American Company in New Archangel. Baron Wrangell was governor and the fort itself had been rebuilt after being destroyed by the Americans.
The Historical Russian Library of Alaska
- Arctic Reading: Russia
Describes a collection of about 1200 volumes, mostly in Russian, sent from the Russian ship Nadezhda in 1803 and following years to “Our Colonies in America.” It was first at Kodiak, and then in Sitka before removal to the Mercantile Library of San Francisco in 1871, and eventual disposition. By 1825 it was described by Kyril Khlebnikof, chief of the counting house at Sitka: “The library in Sitka consists in more than one thousand two hundred volumes, which are held at 7500 rubles, in the number which are more than 600 Russian, 300 French, 130 German, 35 English, 30 Latin, and the remainder in Swedish, Dutch, Spanish and Italian languages.” How it was eventually found abandoned in San Francisco is not known, nor how it escaped the Great Fire. By 1869 Sitka had another library, its post library, but connected to the earlier one as far as the author can see.
Russians in the Arctic: Aspects of Soviet Exploration and Exploitation of the Far North, 1937-57
- Arctic Reading: Russia
Includes the remarkable story of the drift of the Sedov , 3800 miles and 800 days, covering some of the Fram route. In addition to schooling in engineering and navigation, there were also classes of ideological indoctrination. In its third year adrift members of the crew were nominated for political positions in Murmansk, and presumably as the only candidates were elected.
Polar Scenes, Exhibited in the Voyages of Heemskirk and Barenz on the Northern Regions, and in the Adventures of Four Russian Sailors at the Island of Spitzbergen.
- Arctic Reading: Russia
A children’s book with interesting early illustrations of Barents reading a map (opp. p. 77) and descriptions of Samoyards (88-92) and Laplanders (99-110) etc. Constant evocations to the benign will of Providence.