Included in Douglas Mawson’s Antarctic Diaries is a list of books considered part of the equipment of the British Antarctic Expedition of 1908-09, led by Shackleton aboard Nimrod, and in which Mawson served as “Physicist” of the expedition. The books are mentioned in Mawson’s Antarctic Diaires, ed. By Fred & Eleanor Jacka (Sydney 1988), on p. 6 under the entry for 12 January 1908. The original pencil mss. diary is Notebook 2 (16 December 1908 – 10 February 1909, entitled “Douglas Mawson, his diary of journey from depot on shore of Ross Sea, N of Drygalski Glacier to South Magnetic Pole” (Jacka, p. xiii). The handwritten list is in most cases quite specific about the edition and these have been relatively easy to identify.
Another two-page typed list was prepared for the Australasian Antarctic Expedition of 1911-14 of which Mawson was the leader; some of those physical books are shown in the Jacka edition of the diaries, the 7th plate following p. 62, depicting Winter Quarters at Cape Denison. The diaries, originally held by the Mawson Institute of Antarctic Research at the University of Adelaide are now a part of the South Australian Museum. I am most grateful to Mark Pharoah of the South Australian Museum in Adelaide for help in providing copies of the original lists.
In the following short title lists, entries have largely been taken from the international data bases of RLIN (sadly now defunct), or COPAC . In trying to identify probable editions included we have favored the British editions most likely available in Australia, and editions closest in time to the outset of the expedition. Some editions cannot be identified (e.g. the Koran or “several scientific pamphlets”) and are so noted. Some physical volumes are still extant and where known that has been indicated as well.
British Antarctic Expedition December 1907 – February 1909
Scott, Robert Falcon. The Voyage of the “Discovery,” Illustrations by E. A. Wilson. Two volumes. (London: Smith Elder, 1905).
Savoia, Luigi Amedeo di, duc degli Abruzzi. On the “Polar Star” in the Arctic Sea. Translated by William Le Queux. Two volumes. (London: Hutchinson, 1903).
Royal Geographical Society. Hints to Travellers, Scientific and General. Edited for the Royal Geographical Society. 9th Edition. Two volumes. (London: Royal Geographical Society, 1903).
Ball, Robert S. A Popular Guide to the Heavens. (London: G. Philip & Son, 1905).
Bevan, Theodore Francis. Toil, Travel, and Discovery in British New Guinea. (London: Kegan Paul, 1890).
Haydn, Joseph Timothy. Haydn’s Dictionary of Dates and Universal Information Relating to All Ages and Nations. 24th Edition. (London: Ward Lock, 1906).
Congrèes international pour l’ètude des régions polaires. First, Bruxelles, 1906. (Bruxelles: Impr. des academies royales de Belgique, 1906).
“Fram” Expedition (2nd: 1898-1902). Report of the Second Norwegian Arctic Expedition in the “Fram,” 1898-1902. Five Volumes. (Kristinia: T.O. Brogger, 1907-30). [This volume contains Astronomical and Geodetical Observations.]
Greely, Adolphus Washington. Three Years of Arctic Service. Two Volumes. (London: R. Bentley, 1886).
Nansen, Fridtjof. The First Crossing of Greenland. Two Volumes. (London: Longmans, Green, 1890).
Fiala, Anthony. Fighting the Polar Ice. (London: Hodder and Stouhton, 1907).
Nansen, Fridtjof. Fridtjof Nansen’s“Farthest North”. (London:: G. Newnes, 1898).
Moncrieff, Ascott Robert. The World of Today. Six Volumes. (London: Graham Publishing, c1905).
Benham, William Gurney. Cassell’s Book of Quotations, Proverbs and Household Words. (London: Cassell’s, 1907).
Dictionary of National Biography . Second Edition. (London: Smith, Elder, 1906).
Hoare, J. Douglas. Arctic Exploration. (London; Methuen, 1906).
Ross, John, Sir. Narrative of a Second Voyage in Search of a North- West. (Paris; A. and W. Galignani, 1835.
Markham, Albert Hastings, Sir. A Whaling Cruise to Baffin’s Bay and the Gulf of Boothia. (London: Low, Marston, 1874).
Nares, George S. Narrative of a Voyage to the Polar Sea during 1875-6. Third Edition. Two Volumes. (London: Low, Marston, 1878).
1911-14 Australasian Antarctic Expedition: Library
For this later expedition, there are four lists, each of which is divided into the owners or sources of the books who are indicated as follows:
D.M. Dr. Douglas Mawson: leader
Mackellar. Library. Charles Mackellar was an English financier who donated a “small” library to the expedition, some of which survive in Adelaide.
Bage Lieut. Robert Bage: astronomer, assistant magnetician and recorder of tides
Stillwell Frank L. Stillwell: geologist
Hodgeman Alfred J. Hodgeman: cartographer and sketch artist
Capt. Davis John K. Davis: master of SY Aurora and second in command of the expedition.
Philip Ayres biography of Mawson : Mawson: A Life. ( Melbourne, Aus.: The Miegunyah Press, 1999), describes the library as follows: The AAE’s [Australasian Antarctic Expedition, 1911-14] library was almost equally provided by Campbell Mackellar and Mawson himself. The books from Mackellar included literature of Arctic and Antarctic travel, scientific textbooks and general literature. Mawson’s contributions included, besides popular volumes of Antarctic literature like Shackleton’s Heart of the Antarctic and H. R. Mill’s Siege of the South Pole, volumes of scientific results from Scott’s 1900-4 Discovery expedition, W. S. Bruce’s 1902 Scotia expedition, the BAE, Otto Nordenskjöld’s 1901-3 Antarctic expedition, and Jean Charcot’s first, 1903-5, expedition. He also supplied volumes of popular poets like Rudyard Kipling and Robert Service, anthologies, and other items including the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius (which reflect Mawson’s austere and stoic credo, above any particular religion). Interestingly, he took German Self-Taught, a recognition of Germany’s superiority in many scientific and technological fields.” p. 52: [footnote 38 notes that “the AAE’s library is itemized in MAC, 43 AAE,” referring t o the Mawson Antarctic Collection, Waite Campus, University of Adelaide.]
Douglas Mawson Books
Tasmania. Supreme Court. The Tasmanian Law Reports. Volume 8. (Hobart, Tas.: The Tasmanian News, 1906-41?). [This volume contains reports of the Tasmanian Mining Board.]
Lock, John Bascombe. A Treatise on Elementary Trigonometry…. Two Volumes in 1. (London: Macmillan, 1906).
Life in the Antarctic. (London: Gowans & Gray, 1907).
The Antarctic Manual for the Use of the Expedition of 1901. (London: Royal Geographical Society, 1901).
Mill, Hugh Robert. The Siege of the South Pole: The Story of Antarctic Exploration. (London: A. Rivers, 1905).
Hobbs, William Herbert. Characteristics of Existing Glaciers. (New York: Macmillan, 1911).
Shackleton, Ernest Henry, Sir. The Heart of the Antarctic…1907-1909. Two Volumes. (London: w. Heinemann, 1909).
Mackellar Library .
Harker, Alfred. Petrology for Students. Fifth Edition. (Cambridge: The University Press, 1919).
Mikkelsen, Ejnar. Conquering the Arctic Ice. (London: Heinemann, 1909). [This copy extant in Mackellar Library, South Australian Museum.]
Bull, H. J. The Cruise of the ‘Antarctic’ to the South Polar Regions. (London:: Edward Arnold, 1896).
Edwards, Deltus Malin. The Toll of the Arctic Seas. (London: Chapman. 1910).
Cook, Frederick Albert. Through the First Antarctic Night, 1898-1899. (New York: Doubleday, 1909).
Lea, Samuel Hill. Hydrographic Surveying. (New York: Engineering News, 1905).
Nuttall, P. Austin. The Nuttall Encyclopædia. 40th Thousand. (London, New York, F. Warne, 1901).
Expedition Accounts: Mackellar Library
The following are classic accounts of a number of individual expeditions, recognizing that these may not be the actual editions of the books cited:
Spry, William James Joseph. The Cruise of Her Majesty’s Ship “Challenger.” 14th Edition. (London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington, n.d.). [This copy extant in Mackellar Library, South Australian Museum.]
Anson, George Anson, Baron. A Voyage Around the World in the Years, 1740-4. (London, New York: J.M. Dent, n.d.).
Bage Books.
Brown, Robert Neal Rudmose. The Voyage of the “Scotia.” (Edinburgh: Blackwood and Sons, 1906).
Fiala, Anthony. Fighting the Polar Ice. (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1907).
Scott, Robert Falcon. The Voyage of the ‘Discovery.’ Two Volumes. (London: John Murray, 1905).
Stillwell Book
Bruce, William Speirs. Polar Exploration. (London: Williams & Norgate, 1911?).
Hodgeman Book
Moore, Willis L. Descriptive Meteorology. (New York: Appleton, 1911).
Captain Davis Book
Ginsburg, Benedict William. Hints on the Legal Duties of Shipmasters. Third Edition. (London: Charles Griffin, 1911).
The following six entries describing past expeditionary experience are difficult to interpret bibliographically, i.e. what actual publications are represented, and whether the subheadings listed are merely subject headings, or represent individual volumes that may be subsections of larger works. The list does reflect the fairly extensive coverage of past polar experience available to this expedition (cf. Scott’s complaint that he had insufficient materials of polar exploration).
B.A.E. Scientific Results – 1908: Asteroids, Ophuroids and echnoids –Mollusca—Mallocophaga – Fish – Freshwater Rhizopods – Tardigrada –Rotifera –Musci – Microscopic Life at Cape Royds –On collecting at Cape Royds.
British Antarctic Expedition (1907-09). Reports on the Scientific Investigations. Biology. Editor, James Murray. Two Volumes in 11 Parts. (London: Heinemann, 1910-11).
Vol. I, [pt.] I. On collecting at Cape Royds / by J. Murray — [pt.] II. On microscopic life in Cape Royds / by J. Murray — [pt.] III. Antarctic Rotifera / by J. Murray — [pt.] IV. Musci / by J. Cardot — [pt.] V. Tardigrada / by J. Murray — [pt.] VI. Rhizopodes d’eau douce / by E. Penard — [pt.] VII. Fresh water Algae / by W. West and G.S. West — Vol. II, [pt.] I. Mollusca / by C. Hedley — [pt.] II. Antarctic fishes / by E.R. Waite — [pt.] III. Mallophages / by L.G. Neumann — [pt.] IV. Asteries, ophiures, et echinides / by R. Koehler.
Scottish National Antarctic Expedition, 1901-04. Report of the Scientific Results of the Voyage of S.Y. “Scotia.” (Edinburgh: Scottish Oceanographic Laboratory, 1907?).
Nordenskjöld, Otto. Antarctica, or Two Years Amongst the Ice of the South Pole. (London: Hurst and Blackett, 1905).
Scott, Robert Falcon. The Voyage of the “Discovery.” First Edition. Two Volumes. (London: John Murray, 1905).
Charcot, Jean Baptiste. The Voyage of the ‘Why Not?’ in the Antarctic. (London, New York: Hodder and Stoughton, 1911?
British Museum (Natural History). Report on the Collections of Natural History Made in the Antarctic Regions during the Voyage of the “Southern Cross.” (London: British Museum, 1902).
Hoare, J. Douglas. Arctic Exploration. (New York: Dutton, 1906).
Greely, Adolphus Washington. Handbook of Polar Discoveries. Fifth Edition. (Boston: Little, Brown, 1910).
The remaining lists intermix the various sources for the library volumes. I have given the source for each item in bold face at the end of the entry, e.g. Mawson, etc.
Armitage, Albert B. Two Years in the Antarctic. (London: E. Arnold, 1905. Bage
Jayne, Kingsley Garland. Vasco da Gama and His Successors. (London: Methuen, 1910?). Capt. Davis
Peary, Robert Edwin. The North Pole. (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1910). Mackellar
Peary, Robert Edwin. Nearest the Pole. (London: Hutchinson, 1907). Mackellar
Nansen, Fridtjof. Fridtjof Nansen’s “Farthest North.” (London: Macmillan, 1897). Mackeller
Service, Robert W. Songs of a Sourdough. (Toronto: Briggs, 1909). Mawson
Service, Robert W. Ballads of a Cheechako. (London: Fisher Unwin, 1910). Mawson
Kipling, Rudyard. The Five Nations. (London: Methuen, 1909). Mawson
Kipling, Rudyard. The Seven Seas. (London: Methuen, 1911). Mawson
Kipling, Rudyard. Barrack Room Ballads. (London; Methuen, 1900). Mawson
Kipling, Rudyard. Departmental Ditties and Other Verses. (London: Methuen, 1909). Mawson
Stevenson, Robert Louis. Virginibus Puerisque and Other Papers. (London: Chatto, 1906). Mawson
Marcus Aurelius. The Golden Book of Marcus Aurelius. (London: Dent, 1911). Mawson
Service, Robert W. The Trail of ’98; a Northland Romance. (London: Unwin, 1915). Mawson
Gibson, Charles R. Scientific Ideas of To-day. (London: Seeley & Co., 1909). Mackellar
Glazebrook, Richard Tetley. Practical Physics. (London: Longmans, Green, 1905). Mackellar
Glazebrook, Richard Tetley. Physical Optics. (London: Longmans, Green, 1907). Mackellar
Thomé, Otto W. Text-book of Structural and Physiological Botany. (London: Longmans, Green, 1897). Mackellar
Pepys, Samuel. Diary and Correspondence of Samuel Pepys. Four Volumes. (London: G. Allen, 1911). Mackellar
Koran. [Unidentified] Mackellar
Arabian Nights. [Unidentified.] Mackellar
Dickens, Charles. The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club. (London: Chapman and Hall, 1910). Mackellar
Boccaccio, Giovanni. The Decameron. (London: Chatto & Windus, 1909). Mackellar [This volume is extant in the Mackellar Library of the South Australian Museum.]
Huc, Evariste-Regis. A Sojourn at Lhassa. (London:: Blackie, 1905). Mackellar [A conjectural possibility; the entry simply reads Lhassa.]
Who’s Who. [Unidentified.] Mackellar
First Footsteps in East Africa. [Unidentified.] Mackellar
Swedish South Polar Expedition. [Unidentified.] Mawson
Several Scientific Pamphlets. [Unidentified.] Mawson
Hope, Laurence. India’s Love Lyrics, including The Garden of Kama. (New York: J. Lane, 1909). Mawson
Stevens, Bertram. The Golden Treasury of Australian Verse. (Sydney, AU: Angus and Robertson, 1909). Mawson
Poems by Brown? [Unidentified.] Mawson
Quiller-Couch, Arthur, Ed. The Oxford Book of English Verse 1250- 1900. (Oxford; Clarendon Press. 1910). Mawson
Benham, William Gurney, Sir. Prose Quotations. (London, New York: Cassell and Co., 1911). Mawson
Stevenson, Robert Louis. The Letters… to his Family and Friends. Two Volumes. (London: Methuen, 1901). Mawson
Daily Light on the Daily Path. (London: 1908). Mawson
Henninges, E. C. Bible Talks for Heart and Mind. (Melbourne, AU: Covenant Publishing, 1911). Mawson
Thimm, Franz J. L. German Self-Taught. (Baltimore, Stevebold, 1905). Mawson
Nansen, Fridthof. In Northern Mists. (London: Heinemann, 1911. Mawson
Stables, Gordon. The Cruise of the “Arctic Fox” in Icy Seas. (London: S. H. Bousfield, 1903). Mawson
Conway, William Martin, Sir. The First Crossing of Spitsbergen. (London: J. M. Dent, 1897). Mackellar [This volume is extant as part of the Mackellar Library at the South Australian Museum.]
McClintock, Francis Leopold, Sir. The Voyage of the ‘Fox’ in the Arctic Seas in Search of Franklin. (London: J. Murray, 1875). Mackellar
Atlas of the Ancient World ? [Unidentified.] Mackellar
Newbegin, Marion Isabel. Modern Geography. (London: Williams and Norgate, 1911?). Mackellar
Bulfinch, Thomas. Legends of Charlemagne? (London: J. M. Dent, 1911). Mackellar
Darwin, Charles. The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals. (London: J. Murray, 1904). Mackellar
Game Trails [Unidentified] Mackellar
Ingoldsby, Thomas. The Ingoldsby Legends. (London: J. M. Dent, 1907). Mackellar
Browning, Robert. Paracelsus. (London: Methuen, 1909). Mackellar
Swift, Jonathan. The Journal of Stella. (London: G. Newnes, 1904). Mackellar
Tennyson, Alfred Tennyson, Baron. The Poems of Alfred Tennyson. (London: J. M. Dent, 1810). Mackellar [This volume is in the Mawson Collection at the South Australian Museum, given to him by Mackellar]
Henley, William Ernest. Poems. (London: D. Nutt). Capt. Davis
Byron, George Gordon Byron, Baron. The Poems and Plays of Lord Byron. (London: J. M. Dent, 1910. [Unlisted item from the Mackellar Library at the South Australian Museum.]