Clement Markham: Longest Service Officer, Most Prolific Editor,

Savours, Ann. in Compassing the Vaste Globe of the Earth: Studies in the History of The Hakluyt Society, 1846-1996. (London: Hakluyt Society, 1996) p. 165-88.
  • Arctic Reading: Great Britain
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p. 168, on Markham’s 1850-51 Greenland expedition: Confined to a tent by a storm, he ‘Read Pickwick aloud, ate, drank, slept and read Johnson’s life of Pope, alternately. Had a duck and sandpipers stewed in green pea soup, for dinner.’ See Markham’s MS. Journal in the Royal Geographical Society, Archives, CRM 3. This entry is from 7 July 1851.

Twelve Came Back.

Brown, Peter Lancaster. London: Robert Hale, 1957.
  • 1952-53 Australian Heard Island Expedition.
  • Antarctic Reading: Expeditions
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An account of an Australian expedition (1952-53) to Heard Island between Kerguélen Islands and the Antarctic continent, in which two of fourteen members died (one frozen, another drowned). A rather pedestrian account but there are a few interesting passages:

Shores of the Polar Sea: A Narrative of the Arctic Expedition of 1875-6.

Moss, Edward L. (London: Marcus Ward & Co., 1878).
  • Arctic Reading: Great Britain
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p. 9: While our two ships steamed northward along the west shores of Greenland, the novel charm of constant daylight was felt by every one. We all had our own ideas of what Arctic summer would be like, but ideas drawn from books rarely remain unchanged when brought face to face with reality. Although the passage into perpetual day was of course gradual, yet it was quite rapid enough to upset all regular habits.

The Church and the Sailor: A Survey of the Sea-Apostolate Past and Present.

Anson, Peter F. London: John Gifford, 1948.
  • Arctic Reading: General
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Catholic missions to seamen clearly lagged behind the Protestant efforts throughout the 19th century, most Catholic activity as outlined here occurring in the late 19th century and concentrating on the liturgical rather than literary needs of seamen. There was some interest in developing seaman’s institutes, including some reading rooms, but the efforts seem modest at best.

An Evangelical Christian on Franklin’s Last Expedition: Lieutenant John Irving of HMS Terror,

Lloyd-Jones, Ralph. Polar Record 33 (October 1997) 327-32.
  • 1848-59 The Franklin Search.
  • Arctic Reading: Great Britain
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Irving, an officer on Franklin’s Terror, died on King William Island, and his bones were found by Lt. Frederick Schwatka in June 1879 between Victory Point and Cape Jane Franklin. His remains were returned to Scotland and he was reburied in Edinburgh in 1881.

“The North West Passage” Being the Record of a Voyage of Exploration of the Ship “Gjoa” 1903-1907 by Roald Amundsen with a Supplement by First Lieutenant Hansen Vice-Commander of the Expedition.

Amundsen, Roald. Two Volumes. (New York: Dutton, 1908).
  • 1903-07 Norwegian Northwest Passage Expedition (Roald Amundsen aboard Gjoa).
  • Arctic Reading: Europe including Scandinavia
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A strangely colorless, almost vacuous account of a long expedition, at least in this translated prose. Volume I has only a few bookish references, a picture on p. 119 of a shelf of scientific books in the Villa ‘Magnet”, the small base building for magnetic observations. And a description of an Eskimo visit to the ship:

Narrative of a Voyage of H.M.S. Herald during the Years 1845-51, under the Command of Captain Henry Kellett…being A Circumnavigation of the Globe.

Seemann, Berthold. Two volumes. London: Reeve and Co., 1853.
  • 1845-51 British Voyage of Exploration to the West Coast and the Pacific (Commanded by Henry Kellett aboard HMS Herald).
  • Arctic Reading: Great Britain
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This expedition was focused on the US West Coast and Pacific natural history rather than high latitudes though it did reach the Bering Strait. Its focus was chiefly botanical.

Trip to Alaska. A Narrative of What was Seen and Heard During a Summer Cruise in Alaskan Waters.

Wardman, George. San Francisco: Samuel Carson & Company. 1884.
  • 1879 US Treasury Summer Cruise to Alaska (Captain Bailey aboard Richard Rush).
  • Arctic Reading: United States
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p. 79-80, on Russian church services in the 1880s: As you enter, the congregation stands facing the screen, but back from the rotunda. The men stand upon the right, the women on the left. The singers consist of men and boys led by the second priest. In Sitka the choir had a position behind a screen to the right of the rotunda. Here in Onalaska they occupy a narrow gallery, where there is also a bench for visitors.

With Scott: The Silver Lining.

Taylor, Griffith. Banham, UK: Bluntisham Books, 1997. Reprint of 1916 edition, intro by David Walton.
  • 1910-14 British National Antarctic Expedition (Scott on Terra Nova).
  • Antarctic Reading: Expeditions
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Griffith Taylor led the Western Party of Scott’s Terra Nova expedition, scientifically constituting perhaps the most successful part of Scott’s fatal journey.

The Hargrave Correspondence 1821-1843.

Hargrave, James. Edited by G. P. de T. Glazebrook. Toronto: The Champlain Society, 1938. [Reprinted Greenwood 1968.].
  • Arctic Reading: Canada
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p. 44-5, Cuthbert Cumming to James Hargrave, 2 March 1830: The Manner of doing a thing well is of the utmost consequence, & it would appear that in presenting the Books to the old Gentleman [John Stuart], you were aware of this, & did it well in his last letter to me he dwells with pleasure, & dilates with much apparent satisfaction on this triffling affair— I rejoice to think that I have been in the least instrumental in giving the old Gentleman one moments satisfaction & I am sure so are you.—In my mind there was not a doubt as to your choice. I was fully aware that the Life of Napoleon by our renowned Countryman, would never by you be willingly transferred to any others & yet I assure you that Southey’s Peninsular War is highly extolled by all parties—apropos you have seen Lockharts life of Burns it is said to be the best that ever appeared—I have every reason to expect it out this Summer— Your Indians Select’d Library I have every reason to approve of, yet I cannot conceive it all together Complete, without the addition of the Life of the Bard of Coila above mentioned— I expect this Summer the life of J. Knoxthe stern the austere the undaunted Champion of the Kirk— I am inclined to think, that much information & instruction is to be found in it, and no doubt, will through [throw?] much light on the obscurity of our Kirk History in those eventfull times, & help to clear many doubtfull & disputed points of Scottish History in days of yore—the only books I had from England this year was several volms of that masterly performance Blackie’s magazine and a few reviews. (by the by I sent you 2 or three pr Mr. Jos, pr’y have you received them, I wish’d to send you Blackie’s, but this is impossible as anything of bulk is rejected san[s] ceremony by the light Canoe.—I am by no means surprised however disappointed I may be—that my books should be detained at Swan River every thing considered I expected no better— I hope you will recover some of them this Summer— I cannot for the Soul of me imagine for what reason he is continually spouting at me of this….

In Search of a Siberian Klondike as Narrated by Washington B. Vanderlip the Chief Actor and Herein Set Forth by Homer B. Hulbert.

Vanderlip, Washington V. New York: The Century Co., 1908.
  • 1896 Russian-Sponsored Overland Expedition by American W. V. Vanderlip in Search of Gold.
  • Arctic Reading: Russia
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Hard to know whether the charm of this book is to the narrator or amanensis, but it is a delight to read both for its human interactions and its elements of natural history and hunting. These exxcerpts give some flavor of the book, and there are a few comments on language and literature.

Voyage of the United States Frigate Potomac…1831-34.

Reynolds, Jeremiah N. New York: Harper, 1835.
  • 1831-34 US Circumnavigation (Downes aboard Potomac ).
  • Antarctic Reading: Expeditions
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This voyage spent a little time in the Falklands and saw a few icebergs but it was not an Antarctic voyage. Reynolds, however, is an interesting character who influenced Poe with Mocha Dick and Poe died with delirious shouts of Reynolds name, espoused Symmes theory of the hollow earth, and almost single-handedly pushed for the U.S. Exploring Expedition, whose command eventually went to Wilkes. Here Reynolds asks for a strong navy in defense of American commerce, dedicated the work to Secretary and Officers of the Navy (with whom he later fought). His incisive and sharply sardonic style is best scene in his “Correspondence” a few years later with Harlan Davidson, Secretary of the Navy, whom he attacks for his delaying tactics over the expedition, which was approved 4 or 5 years before its departure.

Getting the Message Through: A Branch History of the U.S. Army Signal Corps.

Raines, Rebecca Robbins. Washington, DC.: Center of Military History, 1996.
  • Arctic Reading: United States
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p. 58, on Howgate’s embezzlements from the Signal Corps and his various periods as a fugitive: This time [1881] Howgate eluded capture for thirteen years. He was finally seized in New York City in 1894, where he had been posing as a rare book dealer….