p. 47-8: And I remembered reading in a magazine, called the Sailors’ Magazine, with a sea-blue cover, and a ship painted on the back, about pious seamen who never swore, and paid over all their wages to the poor heathen in India; and how that when they were too old to go to sea, these pious old sailors found a delightful home for life in the Hospital, where they had nothing to do, but prepare themselves for their latter end. And I wondered whether there were any such good sailors among my ship-mates; and observing that one of them laid on deck apart from the rest, I thought to be sure that he was one of them: so I did not disturb his devotions: but I was afterwards shocked at discovering that he was only fast asleep, with one of the brown jugs by his side.
Redburn: His First Voyage, being the Sailor-boy Confessions and Reminiscences of the Son-of-a-Gentleman, in the Merchant Service
- Maritime Reading
The Seaman’s Library Manual.
- Arctic Reading: United States
Introduction by Christopher Morley: I have seen the Green Box in use aboard American ships at sea, and I know what it means…to the reader off duty.
In the Lena Delta: A Narrative of the Search for Lieut.-Commander DeLong and His Companions; Followed by an Account of the Greely Relief Expedition, and a Proposed Method of Reaching the North Pole.
- 1879-81 US North Pole Expedition (commanded by George De Long aboard Jeannette).
- Arctic Reading: United States
This was the crucial expedition in finding the fate of DeLong and the Jeannette.
A Voyage to the South Sea, Undertaken by Command of His Majesty, for the Purpose of Conveying the Bread-Fruit Tree to the West Indies, in His Majesty’s Ship The Bounty, Commanded by Lieutenant William Bligh….
- Maritime Reading
p. 156, in the course of the mutiny: The boatswain and seamen, who were to go in the boat, were allowed to collect twine, canvas, lines, sails, cordage, an eight and twenty gallon cask of water, and Mr. Samuel got 150 lbs. of bread, with a small quantity of rum and wine, also a quadrant and compass; but he was forbidden, on pain of death, to touch either map, ephemeris, book of astronomical observations, sextant, time-keeper, or any of my surveys or drawings.
My Antarctic Honeymoon: A Year at the Bottom of the World.
- 1946-48 Ronne Antarctic Research Expedition.
- Antarctic Reading: Expeditions
One of two women on Finn Ronne’s 1947-48 Weddell Sea expedition, the other being Edith Ronne, his wife. A rather unflattering portrayal of Ronne as well as Ronne’s wife, the other woman.
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
Narrative of the Wreck of the ‘Favorite’ on the Island of Desolation [Kerguélen Island]
- 1825-26 British Sealing Voyage (from London, with Royal Sovereign and Favorite).
- Antarctic Reading: Expeditions
p. 22: …according to the captain’s promise [the whalers] received their extra allowance of grog, with which they retired to their cabins and wiled away the evening in happiness and joviality, telling merry tales and drinking to their absent wives and sweethearts, a prosperous season in the whale and seal fishery, and a happy return to old England!” [The traditional officer’s toast to “wives and sweethearts, may they never meet,” dated appropriately enough from Nelson’s era until January 2014 when it was banned by the Royal Navy.]
Lost in the Arctic, Being the Story of the ‘Alabama’ Expedition, 1909-1912.
- 1909-12 Danish Expedition in Search of Mylius-Erichsen (aboard Alabama led by Ejnar Mikkelsen).
- Arctic Reading: Europe including Scandinavia
p. 171: When I got back to camp Iversen has prepared a little feast. He has opened a new case of provisions in which we find two cigars, that Laub had packed away as a surprise for us. They are pretty badly damaged, but we fix them up somehow, and are soon enjoying the rare treat of a good smoke, together with the further delight of looking at the pictures in an old number of an illustrated paper that had been used to pack them in. The sheets are greasy and torn, but we put the pieces carefully together—here is reading matter for many days, even though we take a little foretaste of it now by glancing at the text here and there. There are bits of several stories, with neither beginning nor end, but that doesn’t matter—we make up the rest ourselves—a splendid way of passing the time, and an excellent subject for conversation on lying-up days.
Interview
- 1946-48 Ronne Antarctic Research Expedition.
- Antarctic Reading: Expeditions
This is Jackie describing Harry Darlington's mother: She was trying to convey something to us and we just didn't realize it at the time [that she disapproved of Harry and Jennie going to Antarctica]. She later sent money. I think she sent $250 worth of books for our library on the trip and asked us not to mention it to Harry. Harry was estranged from his mother at the time, which we did not know.
Operation Deepfreeze.
- 1957- Operation Deep Freeze.
- Antarctic Reading: Expeditions
Rear Admiral Dufek was Commander U.S. Naval Support Force Antarctica, but apart from a fairly extensive bibliography his book shows no sign of his own reading. However, there are a few references:
James Isham’s Observations on Hudsons Bay, 1743 and Notes and Observations on a Book Entitled
- Hudson's Bay Company.
- Arctic Reading: Canada
James Isham was employed by the HBC from 1732 and as chief of Fort York from 1737, According to the Dictionary of Canadian Biography (Volume III) “Isham was at once a skilled and understanding trader, a perceptive planner and strategist, and a conscientious and observant natural historian.” He was not an expert on the fur trading business, but he did develop expertise in the subject of Indian vocabularies
The Man on the Ice Cap. The Life of August Courtauld.
- 1930-31 British Greenland Air Route Expedition.
- Arctic Reading: Great Britain
Courtauld was a British yachtsman who notably spent a winter alone as meteorologist on the Greenland icecap in 1930-31, where he had considerable reading matter.
Lure of the North.
- Arctic Reading: Canada
Finnie was a Canadian photographer, filmmaker, and lecturer who gave regular presentations on the Arctic throughout the 1930s. He “spent a year in the western Arctic between Herschel and King William Island in 1930, revisited the region in 1934 and 1939, and gives here sketches and essays on its people, the Eskimos and the whites, and their way of life” (Arctic Bibliography 4991). In this work, he was particularly concerned with the impact of new sub-Arctic wells and mines, as well as other forms of development, on the native population. [ABEBOOKS 11/24/2019]
The Voyage of the “Scotia”, Being the Record of a Voyage of Exploration….
- 1902-04 Scottish National Antarctic Expedition (Bruce on Scotia).
- Antarctic Reading: Expeditions
On Scottish National Antarctic Expedition (1902-04). Chapter VI “In Winter Quarters,” is by R N. Rudmose Brown:
The Diaries of Frank Hurley, 1912-1941.
- 1914-16 Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition (Shackleton on Endurance).
- Antarctic Reading: Expeditions
These diaries cover most of Hurley’s life, but the following notes are only from his Antarctic experience with Shackleton.