A solid, workmanlike account of the Trans-Antarctic Expedition (TAE) which for a time pitted Fuchs and Hillary in a race to the pole. The author calls it “the greatest polar expedition ever forgotten” (p. 251). He alludes to men reading occasionally, but never with any helpful details of which books or how read. General tone at times seems “a pox on both your houses” re the stubbornness of both Fuchs and Hillary.
Shackleton’s Dream: Fuchs, Hillary and the Crossing of Antarctica.
Haddelsey, Stephen. Stroud, UK: The History Press, 2012.
- 1955-58 TAE: Trans-Antarctic Expedition (Fuchs and Hillary).
- Antarctic Reading: Expeditions
Preview
Across the Top of Russia
Petrow, Richard. . New York: David McKay, 1967.
- 1965 US Coast Guard Surveillance Voyage to Russia’s Kara Sea (aboard USCGC Windward).
- Arctic Reading: United States
Preview
On the 1965 Coast Guard icebreaker, CGS Northwind, trip to the Kara Sea for scientific and spying purposes.
With Peary Near the Pole…
Astrup, Eivind. Translated from the Norwegian by H. J. Bull. London: C. Arthur Pearson, 1898.
- Arctic Reading: United States
Preview
Astrup participated in two of Peary’s early Greenland expeditions.
A Black Explorer at the North Pole
Henson, Matthew A. Foreword by Robert E. Peary, Rear Admiral, U.S.N. Introduction by Booker T. Washington. Introduction to Bison Book Edition by Susan A. Kaplan. (Lincoln, Nebr.: University of Nebraska Press, 1989). [First published as A Negro Explorer at the North Pole in 1912; There are many other editions, often with variant titles.].
- 1891-1920 Robert Peary and the Search for the North Pole; 1908-09 US North Pole Expeditions under Robert E. Peary (aboard Roosevelt).
- Arctic Reading: United States
Preview
Mostly from Hensen’s diary with connecting narrative of Peary’s North Pole expedition of 1908-9.
The Belgian Antarctic Expedition under the Command of Adrien de Gerlache de Gomery. Summary Report of the Voyage of “Belgica” of 1897–1898–1899.
Gerlache de Gomery, Adrien de. Brusselles: Hayez, 1904.
- 1897-99 Belgian Antarctic Expedition (Gerlache de Gomery aboard Belgica).
- Antarctic Reading: Expeditions
Preview
p. 11: The forecastle for the crew was spacious, well-ventilated and lighted by a large skylight. It contained sixteen berths, supplied with good mattresses and warm woolen blankets.
Journal of a Voyage in Baffin’s Bay and Barrow Straits, in the Years 1850-1851, Performed in H.M. Ships “Lady Franklin” and “Sophia,” under the Command of Mr. William Penny….
Sutherland, Peter C. Two volumes. London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, 1852.
- 1848-51 British Expedition in Franklin Search (commanded by Capt. T.E.L. Moore aboard H.M.S. Plover).
- Arctic Reading: Great Britain
Preview
These volumes recount one of the early Franklin search expeditions, originally organized by Lady Franklin but adopted and furnished by the Admiralty, and which wintered near the Resolute and Assistance, and were also close to John Ross’s Felix and Mary expedition (HBC). Sutherland was surgeon on the Sophia, and appears from these volumes to have been a most panglossian optimist, as can be seen from some of the quotations below.
Antarctic Hazard.
Cockrill, Ross. New York: Philosophical Library, 1957.
- 1950-51 British Whaling Expedition (aboard Southern Venturer).
- Antarctic Reading: Expeditions
Preview
Cockrill applied for the job of veterinarian on the British whaling expedition aboard the Southern Venturer in 1950-51, to evaluate the Antarctic whaling population, its health and welfare and the likely survival of the whaling industry in its postwar rebound. Cockrill has a charming style displaying admirable equanimity amidst fanatic whalemen. His ship was part of a large fleet of vessels making annual expeditions which typically killed 34,000 whales.
Sir John Franklin.
Beesly, Augustus H. New York: G. P. Putnam’s, 1881.
- 1848-59 The Franklin Search.
- Arctic Reading: Great Britain
Preview
p. 75: And now we come to one of the most tragic histories ever told. One might call it pathetic, but that, as Thackeray says of the circumstances of George the Third's madness, it is too terrible for tears. Nevertheless, no one could read Franklin's diary and not be touched. It was, it must be remembered, written from night to night, after the day had been spent in one of the most frightful of all torments, starvation, and when death seemed to draw visibly nearer hour by hour. It is as if he had written it with his heart's blood, which to the last drop he was determined should be shed for those at home in England. There is no unmanly wailing in it. It is the most matter-of-fact record of appalling suffering. Perhaps the most tragic feature of it is that at one point the dates cease. Whether he had lost count of time or not, it is impossible to say. The diary does not cease, though the dates do. Perhaps the record of those days was added afterwards, because, however willing the spirit was, he found it frequently impossible to pen his notes upon the spot.
Arctic and Antarctic: A Prospect of the Polar Regions.
Bertram, Colin. Cambridge: Heffer, 1957.
- Arctic Reading: General
Preview
p. 121: Outside the expedition’s little home the land is Nature’s own; there are no man-made contrivances issuing forth smoke and filth, no noise of wheels and engines, no newspapers lying and spreading scandals, and no ugliness of any kind. The land is as God made it, filled with peace and beauty.
The Gateways to the Pole,
[Maury, J. B.]. Putnam’s Magazine N.s. IV No. 23 (Nov. 1869) 521-537; “The Dumb Guides to the Pole” N.s. IV No. 24 (Dec. 1869) 727-40.
- Arctic Reading: United States
Preview
An extended and approving study of Silas Bent’s theories of the open polar sea and thermal currents, saying that previous explorers have ignored the natural paths of warm currents & that Bent’s purpose is the humane one of saving lives in fruitless attempts on the North Pole.
A Strange Discovery. [ How We Found Dirk Peters].
Dake, Charles Romyn. New York: H. Ingalls Kimball, 1899.
- Arctic Reading: General
Preview
An 1899 novel intended as a sequel to Poe’s Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pymin which Poe’s character Dirk Peters provides the ending to Poe’s story. The action takes place far from the sea, in Bellevue, Illinois, but is laced with several accounts of reading experiences. The story itself is firmly within the hollow earth tradition.
Battle for the Soul: Métis Children Encounter Evangelical Protestants at Mackinaw Mission, 1823-1837.
Widder, Keith R. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 1999.
- Arctic Reading: Inuit and other indigenous people
Preview
This deals mainly with a US phenomenon of attempted religious colonialism with relevance to Métis in Canada. It seems a good example of indoctrination requiring a degree of literacy devoid of independent thinking. An Anglo-Métis at Lake Leech in 1833 describes the house he built: Now comes the Door; next to which and hanging up is a frock coat. Then comes other articles in regular rotation, an old straw Hat, a violin with all its appendages; a small shelf upon which are the few books we possess; one or two cossets, an ax, a spade, Tobacco pouch etc.etc. (p. 12).
In Search of the Magnetic North: A Soldier-Surveyor’s Letters from the North-West, 1843-1844.
Lefroy, John Henry. Toronto: Macmillan Company of Canada, 1955.
- 1843-44 British Surveying Expedition for Magnetic North.
- Arctic Reading: Canada
Preview
p. xi, re an English soldier-scientist and surveyer assigned to Toronto: …with an English gentlemen’s sincere belief in the inevitable superiority of things English….. He loved his Church; and his interest in missionary work never diminished throughout a career which lasted seventy-eight years.
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
Preview
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.
Glimpses of the Northland: Sketches of Life among the Cree and Salteaux Indians.
Santmier, Arthur. Chicago: Published for the Author by S. K. J. Chesbro, 1905.
- Arctic Reading: Canada
Preview
p. 28: At God’s Lake the work of teaching a school was of a different character. No missionary or teacher had been stationed there, and parents and children were alike totally ignorant of the nature of a school. I arrived at God’s Lake in early September and at once commenced work. The church was a slimsy structure, very cold, and the roof leaked so badly as to render it untenable in rainy weather. There were no desks, chairs or black boards. A few books and slates I brought from Oxford House. A number of children were orphans. I plainly announced in the preceding Sabbath services that only children of school age, that is, from six to fourteen years, would be received, and that I did not conduct a nursery, nor did I want a wife, and therefore grown-up girls could not attend the school, for their sole object in coming was to impress the school-teacher with their charms and thus win a husband if possible.