p. 38: At least by the nineteenth century, most expeditions of exploration considered a well-stocked library an essential component of their cargo. Obviously, those in ships could afford a greater tonnage; just how many men on Franklin’s two land expeditions hauled books and charts over portages and across the tundra remains a nice question. Certainly, when the first expedition was reduced in the fall of 1821 to a straggling line of men marching back from Bathurst Inlet to the hoped-for refuge of Fort Enterprise, a copy of Samuel Hearne’s A Journey from the Prince of Wales’s Fort, in Hudson’s Bay, to the Northern Ocean, the only book then available about the region, remained part of the load. The party of twenty men lost their way more than once. Were they consulting the charter in the inferior but lighter-weight octavo edition of Hearne’s book, issued in Dublin in 1796? It would have made a more logical traveling companion than the larger quarto first edition (London, 1795). Yet the map in the octavo showed Hearne’s return route across the Barrens differently from the first edition’s map. The discrepancy could have confused Franklin, whose men suffered more than one delay, and contributed to the number of deaths. Certainly, the matter of a book’s size bears materially on this dramatic possibility.
“English Writings about the New World”
- Arctic Reading: Canada
A Voyage Towards the South Pole, Performed in the Years 1822-24 Containing an Examination of the Antarctic Sea (1827).
- 1822-24 Weddell Whaling Expeditions.
- Antarctic Reading: Expeditions
It’s obvious that Weddell was well-read on the history of the region he explored (cf. his translation and abstracts of earlier Spanish reports, on p. 61-9), but this isn’t evidence of books aboard—he does speak of the credibility of some books inducing him to search certain islands, implying that copies were on the ship. And the obligatory prayer-books on British ships were certainly present.
An Account of the Voyages Undertaken by the Order of His Present Majesty for Making Discoveeries in the Southern Hemisphere, And Successively Performed by Commodore Byron : Captain Carteret, Captain Wallis : And Captain Cook. Drawn Up from the Journals which were kept by the several Commanders, And from the Papers of Joseph Banks, Esq; by John Hawkesworth.
- 1768–79 British Naval Expeditions of Captain James Cook.
- Antarctic Reading: Expeditions
A very controversial work, Hawksworth being heavily attack by Philip Carteret in particular for distorting the nature, failures, and successes of the Carteret circumnavigation.
The Life of Sir Clements R. Markham.
- Arctic Reading: Great Britain
Pure hagiography by his cousin, also a naval officer. Clements had a short but early naval career which included service as the only midshipman on the Assistance on its 1850-51 search for John Franklin. He contributed to the Aurora Borealis and other papers of the voyage.
Race for the South Pole: Expedition Diaries of Scott and Amundsen.
- Heroic Age 1901-1921.
- Antarctic Reading: Expeditions
Uses a clever device of presenting chronologically the diary entries by Amundsen and Scott, together with the shorter diary entries from Amundsen’s colleague, Olav Bjaaland, from September 1, 1911, to March 5, 1912, when Amundsen and the Fram reached Tasmania. The substantial introduction and epilogue by Huntford are informative but characteristically mean-spirited and vituperative in his loathing for Scott, and by implication the British people for making him into a false hero. I found nothing related to any reading by the three diarists.
Leviathan: The History of Whaling in America.
- Whalemen's Reading
An epic history of the "iron men in wooden boats" who built an industrial empire through the pursuit of whales. "To produce a mighty book, you must choose a mighty theme," Herman Melville proclaimed, and this absorbing history demonstrates that few things can capture the sheer danger and desperation of men on the deep sea as dramatically as whaling. Eric Jay Dolin begins his vivid narrative with Captain John Smith's botched whaling expedition to the New World in 1614. He then chronicles the rise of a burgeoning industry - from its brutal struggles during the Revolutionary period to its golden age in the mid-1800s when a fleet of more than 700 ships hunted the seas and American whale oil lit the world, to its decline as the twentieth century dawned. This sweeping social and economic history provides rich and often fantastic accounts of the men themselves, who mutinied, murdered, rioted, deserted, drank, scrimshawed, and recorded their experiences in journals and memoirs. Containing a wealth of naturalistic detail on whales, Leviathan is the most original and stirring history of American whaling in many decades.
Mawson: a Life.
- 1911-14 Australasian Antarctic Expedition (Mawson).
- Antarctic Reading: Expeditions
A balanced biography of Mawson, emphasizing his achievements but not ignoring his sometimes depressive personality and temper.
Antarctic Destinies: Scott, Shackleton and the Changing Face of Heroism.
- Heroic Age 1901-1921.
- Antarctic Reading: Expeditions
Deals largely with the reversal of reputations of Scott’s decline and Shackleton’s growth throughout the 20th century, and the balancing of the two in the first decade of the 21st century. Unfortunately, this is a long book that should have been a short one. She insists on recounting the set pieces of all the voyages with individual chapters on the English expeditions (Discovery, Nimrod, Terra Nova, and Endurance), with minimal nods to Bruce, Filchner and others less preoccupied with the Pole that the two Englishmen. She tries hard to achieve a balance between the two but seems by the epilogue to be favoring late arguments on behalf of Scott, even when the arguments are weak (e.g. Fiennes claim that only one who has been there can assess Scott in the Antarctic). There is nothing that I found about reading or any non-curricular activity to help keep the men sane, though she suggests that a number went bonkers. A disappointing work which ignores the “destiny” of its title.
“As the Wolf from the Dog”; American Overseas Exploration and the Compartmentalization of Humankind: 1838-1859.
- Arctic Reading: United States
Examples used are the Charles Wilkes’ US Exploring Expedition 1838-43, and Elisha Kent Kane’s search for Franklin in 1859.
Address, on the Subject of a Surveying and Exploring Expedition to the Pacific Ocean and South Seas…April 3, 1836.
- 1838-42 U.S. Exploring Expedition (Wilkes).
- Antarctic Reading: Expeditions
Recounts importance of maritime power to U.S. for commerce, yielding the North and Arctic to Britain which he says will find the Northwest Passage, and arguing for scientific exploration (p. 22-3) without immediate dividends though the practical benefits will soon follow. His proposal is for a voyage of discovery to the Pacific and Southern Oceans.
Journal of a Cruise Made to the Pacific Ocean… in the United States Frigate Essex, in the Years 1812, 1813, and 1814.
- 1812-1814 American Naval Cruise to the Pacific commanded by David Porter (aboard frigate Essex).
- Antarctic Reading: Expeditions
The second edition is the only complete edition and generally regarded as the best one. The 1986 introduction added much information of importance and interest. – Hill. Samuel Eliot Morison called it the best bit of sea literature of the period. (See also Smith II, 1632. Howes P-484 (aa). Hill 1373.)
Safe Return Doubtful: The Heroic Age of Polar Exploration.
- Arctic Reading: General
p. 1: On the night of January 30, 1916, a frail, white-haired gentleman retired to the bedroom of his house in London’s Eccleston Square. Once undressed, he swung expertly into a hammock and, as he had done for more than seven decades, read himself to sleep in traditional Royal Navy fashion: One hand held his book, the other a candle, exactly as he had learned as a midshipman in 1844.
“Congering” the Past: The Books of the Lady Franklin Bay Expedition (1881-84), Before and After.
- 1881-84 International Physical Year US Expedition to Lady Franklin Bay (led by Adolphus Greely).
- Arctic Reading: United States
An account of the library at Lady Franklin Bay, its planning under Henry Howgate, its active use under Adolphus Greely, and its disposition under Robert Peary.
Gender on Ice.
- Arctic Reading: General
A study of gender bias in polar exploration and its depiction in the National Geographic.
The Hookers of Kew 1785-1911.
- Arctic Reading: General
Joseph Hooker was part of the Erebus and Terror Antarctic expedition led by James Clark Ross, an expedition poorly equipped for scientific investigation.