[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:

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.

Polar Pioneers. John Ross and James Clark Ross.

Ross, J. M. Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1994.
  • Arctic Reading: Great Britain
 Preview 

A joint biography of uncle and nephew with much on other explorers of the time, e.g., Parry. There is an impressive body of contemporary literature surrounding the Rosses and Parry which is well-described here, including the acrimony between uncle and nephew, John and James.

Journal of a Voyage to Greenland, in the Year 1821.

Manby, George William. London: G. and W.B. Whittaker, 1822.
  • Whalemen's Reading
 Preview 

Description of an interesting if unsuccessful experiment to adapt a life-saving device to a “gun-harpoon to attack whales.” This was during a summer voyage of Scoresby aboard the Baffin. As often in whaling journals, especially during summer months, there is nothing here about leisure or professional reading by the men other than Scriptural readings, accompanied by standard invocations of providence.

The Eskimo of Baffin Land and Hudson Bay….

Boas, Franz. [ Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History . Volume XV, 1901] New York: AMNH, 1901.
  • Arctic Reading: Inuit and other indigenous people
 Preview 

Boas’s work says nothing about Inuit reading but is included here for his lengthy accounts of oral tales from Cumberland Sound (81) and from the West Coast of Hudson Bay (30). Here is one brief example chosen at random:

The Diary of Lieutenant Charles W R Royds. RN Expedition to the Arctic 1901-1904.

Royds, Charles W. R., Lieutenant. Bridwood, NSW, Australia, T. R. Royds, 2001.
  • 1901-04 British National Antarctic Expedition (Scott aboard Discovery).
  • Antarctic Reading: Expeditions
 Preview 

Royds was the First Lieutenant on Scott’s Discovery expedition, and was involved in virtually all operations of the ship and the expedition, including ship’s discipline. It’s a rather ponderous (and heavy) tome but full of information about the expedition. He mentions the Cap’t. frequently but I didn’t seem to learn much about Scott from it. He frequently played the piano or pianola for a couple hours at a time. He was clearly a steady reader and names titles but gives little insight into his reactions to the books he read. Here are some examples of reading and related matters:

The Ascent of Denali (Mount McKinley): A Narrative of the First Complete Ascent of the Highest Peak in North America.

Stuck, Hudson. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1914.
  • 1913-18 US Private Journeys round the Coast and Interior of Alaska (Hudson Stuck, “Archbishop of the Yukon”).
  • Arctic Reading: United States
 Preview 

Unfortunately, most of the readings recorded in Stuck’s first book have only to do with temperature readings, with a few minor exceptions, compared to the prodigious reading recorded in his other books.

Writing the New World: Imaginary Voyages….

Fausset, David. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 1993.
  • Whalemen's Reading
 Preview 

p. 3: the exotic literature of Europe “was most clearly manifested in fiction about the regions that remained unknown the longest….their works, too, would finally be overtaken by history and supplanted by scientific descriptions of the material and social worlds.” (his examples are Robinson Crusoe, Gulliver, Poe, Lovecraft)

Moby Dick, or The Whale.

Melville, Herman. Illustrated by Rockwell Kent. New York: Modern Library, 1930.
  • Whalemen's Reading
 Preview 

Among so many other things, Moby Dick is a key text on the reading of sailors, especially the quote on p. 159, and this edition with Kent’s wood engravings is especially desirable.

Antarctic Obsession. A Personal Narrative of the Origins of the British National Antarctic Expedition 1901-1904.

Markham, Clements. Edited and introduced by Clive Holland. Bluntisham, UK: Erskine Press, 1986.
  • 1901-04 British National Antarctic Expedition (Scott aboard Discovery).
  • Antarctic Reading: Expeditions
 Preview 

Markham was the President of the Royal Geographical Society, and this book is based on his manuscript journal in the SPRI collection where Holland was once Librarian. It is not only a personal narrative but a vituperative one; one wonders whether Markham ever intended publication. It’s a one-sided story in the first person singular describing the feud between the Royal Society and the Royal Geographical Society during the planning of the Discovery Expedition, a feud over who would control the expedition, whether Scott would be in complete control or whether he would turn command over to the scientists (represented by geologist John Walter Gregory) when ashore. Markham won the battle in backing his own choice (many would argue the wrong choice) in Robert Falcon Scott. There is another side of this story but it won’t be found here in this egocentric and self-justifying account by this authoritarian martinet.

Antarctica: A Year at the Bottom of the World.

Mastro, Jim. Boston: Little, Brown, 2002.
  • 1982-96 American Antarctic Program Expeditions.
  • Antarctic Reading: Expeditions
 Preview 

A composite one-man account of winterovers from 1982 to 1996 combing a dozen trips into one narrative. There are a few content-free references to the McMurdo library—it seems obvious he didn’t use it often. Mastro served as a photo-journalist and the book includes some extraordinary photographs.