Diary of the Terra Nova expedition to the Antarctic 1910-1912. An account of Scott’s last expedition edited from the original mss. in the Scott Polar Research Institute and the British Museum.

Wilson, Edward Adrian. London: Blandford Press [1972].
  • 1910-14 British National Antarctic Expedition (Scott on Terra Nova).
  • Antarctic Reading: Expeditions
 Preview 

p. 69, Dec. 5, 1910: I have been reading The Illustrious Prince, which Mrs. Wigram, you remember, gave me just before leaving New Zealand, a book I have thoroughly enjoyed—and the last novel, probably, that I shall read until we are well up in the warm sunshine on the way home. If I read novels habitually there would be no diary writing. As it is, the only quiet time in the day is from 4.30 a.m. or 5 a.m. to breakfast at 8 a.m.—and my writing is all done then.

Shackleton’s Forgotten Expedition: The Voyage of the Nimrod

Riffenbergh, Beau. New York: Bloomsbury, 2004.
  • 1907-09 British Antarctic Expedition (Shackleton on Nimrod).
  • Antarctic Reading: Expeditions
 Preview 

A thorough and balanced defence of Shackleton and his achievement in the furthest south of 1909, against Markham’s attempts to besmearch his reputation.

Around the World with the Battleships

Miller, Robert J. … with Introductory Note by James B. Connolly. Chicago, IL: A.C. McClurg, 1909.
  • 1907-09 US Circumnavigation by the Great White Fleet.
  • Arctic Reading: United States
 Preview 

Not much here on reading by the sailors of the Great White Fleet but it does add some purple propaganda to the overall picture.

Of Whales and Men.

Robertson, R. B. (New York: Knopf, 1954).
  • Maritime Reading
 Preview 

A delightful account of a ship’s doctor on an 8-month cruise of a whaling factory ship, with something of a psychological emphasis on the men he was with.

Deadly Winter: The Life of Sir John Franklin.

Beardsley, Martyn. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2002.
  • Arctic Reading: Great Britain
 Preview 

A facile and not very original biography of Franklin, sloppily edited and proofread, but a decent enough overview.

Narrative of the Most Extraordinary and Distressing Shipwreck of the Whale-ship Essex

Chase, Owen.
  • Whalemen's Reading
 Preview 

Owen Chase's memoir of the sinking of the Essex by a whale, which inspired Herman Melville's epic Moby-Dick and the film In the Heart of the Sea. Owen Chase was the first mate on the ill-fated American whaling ship Essex, which was attacked and sunk by a sperm whale in the southern Pacific Ocean in 1820. The crew spent months at sea in leaking boats and endured the blazing sun, attacks by killer whales, and lack of food. The men were forced to resort to cannibalism before the final eight survivors were rescued. Chase recorded the tale of the ship's sinking and the following events with harrowing clarity in the Wreck of the Whale Ship Essex: "I turned around and saw him about one hundred rods [500 m or 550 yards] directly ahead of us, coming down with twice his ordinary speed of around 24 knots.

Farthest North.

Nansen, Fridtjof. Jan Krakauer, Series Editor. Introduction by Roland Huntford. New York, Modern Library, 1999.
  • 1893-96 Norwegian North Pole Expedition (Fridthof Nansen aboard Fram).
  • Arctic Reading: Europe including Scandinavia
 Preview 

On Nansen’s 1893-96 Fram expedition and the first wintering over.

At the Mountains of Madness,

Lovecraft, H. P. in At the Mountains of Madness and Other Novels. Sauk City, WI: Arkham House, 1964.
  • Whalemen's Reading
 Preview 

First published in 1931, this phantasmagoric combination of science fiction and horror novel is located on the high plateau of Antarctic, reached by airplane, but discovering the world’s highest mountains and remains of an ancient ‘civilization’ come back to life and destructive of the expedition.

A Forgotten Explorer: Carsten Egeberg Borchgrevink

Evans, Hugh Blackwall. Polar Record 17 (1984) 221-35.
  • 1898–1900 British Antarctic Expedition (Carsten Borchgrevink on Southern Cross).
  • Antarctic Reading: Expeditions
 Preview 

Account of one of the first to set foot on Antarctica (Cape Adare Jan. 1895). Points out a good number of Borchgrevink’s claims for which there is no evidence, allowing the inference that Borchgrevink was a great liar.

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
 Preview 

Another account of prayer-book reading on the Franklin/Richardson overland journeys, attempting to explain what kept them from total despair:

The Journal of Post Captain Nicolas Baudin, Commander-in-Chief of the Corvettes, Géographe and Naturaliste. Assigned by the Order of the Government to a Voyage of Discovery.

Baudin, Nicolas. Translated from the French by Christine Cornell. Adelaide: Libraries Board of South Australia, 1974.
  • 1801-03 French Exploring Expedition to South Seas and Terra Australis (Captain Nicolas Baudin aboard Géographe).
  • Global Circumnavigations and Cape Horn Transits.
  • Maritime Reading
 Preview 

This is a magnificent edition of Baudin’s expeditionary journal in English translation, including listings of the exploration books on each of the two vessels. There is nothing that I could easily find in this journal about any reading of those books, though there seem to have been no natural occasions for such reading, e.g. a winterover.

Peter Fidler’s Library: Philosophy and Science in Rupert’s Land.

Lindsay, Debra. Readings in Canadian Library History. Edited by Peter F. McNally. (Toronto: Canadian Library Association, 1986). p. 209-29.
  • Hudson's Bay Company.
  • Arctic Reading: Canada
 Preview 

p. 209: Peter Fidler, Hudson’s Bay Company servant [surveyor] 1788-1822, was one of the first owners and collectors of books in Rupert’s Land. His penchant for books was not an isolated case of individualism gone berserk, but his permanent acquisition of vast numbers of books was a unique occurrence in Rupert’s Land…. Fidler’s library eventually reached five hundred volumes, a massive collection for a man of modest means.

[personal journal on the Henry B Hyde]

Russell, William Bennett. Collection of Maine Maritime Museum (Bath).
  • Maritime Reading
 Preview 

The personal journal of William Bennett Russell during his travels on the Henry B Hyde in 1894 includes an account of his discovery of an American Seamen’s Friend Society loan library aboard the ship: