Diary.

Bender, Jacob (George Layerzapf). Transcribed diary appearing on www.arcticwebsite.com/GreelyBenderDiary. July 7, 1881-Feb. 19, 1882.
  • 1881-84 International Physical Year US Expedition to Lady Franklin Bay (led by Adolphus Greely).
  • Arctic Reading: United States
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July 191881: …we loaded some stores left here by the U.S. Gullnare last year. [Could easily have included books from the Howgate Expedition, those so stamped in the Arctic Collection found by Peary in 1898.]

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….

Bligh, William. London: Printed for George Nicol, 1792.
  • Maritime Reading
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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.

With Nansen in the North, A Record of the Fram Expedition in 1893-96.

Johansen, Hjalmar. New York: New Amsterdam Book Company [n.d., ca. 1897].
  • 1893-96 Norwegian North Pole Expedition (Fridthof Nansen aboard Fram).
  • Arctic Reading: Europe including Scandinavia
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p. 40, Oct 1, 1893, Sunday and their first day of rest: In the forenoon we had some sacred music on the organ, and read books from our well-stocked library.

Race for the Pole.

Weems, John Edward. Preface by Vilhjalmur Stefansson. New York: Henry Holt, 1960.
  • 1891-1920 Robert Peary and the Search for the North Pole.
  • Arctic Reading: United States
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Generally a whitewash of the Peary legend and legacy (mainly about the 1908-09 expedition) written as a homely narrative based according to Weems on thorough documentation. Although there is a decent bibliography one can’t find documentation for any given passage.

The Tactless Philosopher: Johann Reinhold Forster (1729-1798).

Hoare, Michael E. Melbourne, Aus.: Hawthorn Press, 1976.
  • 1772-75 British Naval Expedition–Second Voyage (Captain James Cook aboard the Resolution).
  • “Discovery” of Antarctica.
  • Antarctic Reading: Expeditions
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A straightforward biography of Forster, the Anglo-German naturalist who replaced Sir Joseph Banks on Cook’s Second Voyage (1772-75), along with his son George.

No Latitude for Error.

Hillary, Sir Edmund. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1961.
  • 1955-58 TAE: Trans-Antarctic Expedition (Fuchs and Hillary).
  • Antarctic Reading: Expeditions
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Re Trans Antarctic Expedition of 1956-57, with Vivian Fuchs. Unlike their joint book, Hillary’s at least shows some interior pictures with shelves of books, incl. one opposite p. 97 with one title legible, Into China.

Cherry: A Life of Apsley Cherry-Garrard.

Wheeler, Sara. New York: Random House, 2002.
  • 1910-14 British National Antarctic Expedition (Scott on Terra Nova).
  • Antarctic Reading: Expeditions
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A splendid biography of one of the most valuable members of Scott’s Terra Nova expedition.

Journal of a Voyage with Bering, 1741-1742.

Steller, Georg Wilhelm. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1988.
  • Arctic Reading: Russia
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p. 189: Footnote: Among the essential items [on Bering’s expedition] were three quadrants, one chronometer, one compass, one spyglass, eleven books of navigation, one bundle of charts, two bundles of calculations, and seven maps. [See Bancroft 90: n 14.]

The Frigid Mistress: Life and Exploration in Antarctica.

Doumani, George A. Baltimore, MD: Noble House, 1999.
  • 1957- Operation Deep Freeze.
  • Antarctic Reading: Expeditions
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A personal account of five trips to the Antarctic, mainly to Byrd Station. Probably the worst book of Antarctic exploration I’ve encountered. To quote one review of this account of five visits to Antarctica: “He is no writer.” There is one paragraph about the library room at Byrd Station: if the publisher had remembered to provide pagination I would provide a citation—it’s near the beginning of the book.

Saga of the “Discovery.

Bernacchi, Louis Charles. London: Blackie, 1938.
  • 1901-04 British National Antarctic Expedition (Scott aboard Discovery).
  • Antarctic Reading: Expeditions
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Bernacchi was an Australian/Belgian explorer, another veteran of the heroic age of polar exploration, having participated in Borchgrevink’s Southern Cross expedition, Scott’s Discovery expedition, as well as journeys to Africa and Peru. He was also the biographer of Lawrence Oates, who died on Scott’s last expedition.

Farther North than Nansen. Being the voyage of the Polar Star.

Abruzzi, Luigi Amedeo di Savoia. Two Volumes. London: Howard Wilford Bell, 1901.
  • 1899-1900 Italian North Polar Expedition (aboard Polar Star commanded by the Duke of Abruzzi and Umberto Cagni).
  • Arctic Reading: Europe including Scandinavia
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Abruzzi’s expedition divides neatly into the two parts described in these volumes. The first volume deals with the sea voyage of the Polar Star, the second with Umberto Cagni’s sledging journey toward the North Pole. Much of the second volume is by Cagni who had taken over command because of Abruzzi’s injuries.

An Account of Several Late Voyages & Discoveries to the South and North towards the Streights of Magellan, the South Seas, the Vast Tracts of Land beyond Hollandia Nova, &c.: also towards Nova Zembla, Greenland or Spitsberg, by Sir John Narborough, Captain Jasmen Tasman, Captain John Wood, and Frederick Martin of Hamburgh….

Narbrough, John, Sir. (London: Printed for Sam Smith and Benj. Walford, Printers to the Royal Society, 1694).
  • Global Circumnavigations and Cape Horn Transits.
  • Maritime Reading
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The purpose of this voyage was to establish trading relations between Britain and South America and the South Seas. Narborough did claim for Britain some territory in Argentina, lost some of his men as hostages in Peru, but failed in his primary mission.

The Private Life of Polar Exploration.

Scott, James Maurice. Edinburgh: Blackwood, 1982.
  • Antarctic Reading: General
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p. 65, re Scott’s Northern Party: Levick used to read aloud in the evening, first a chapter a night of David Copperfield, then the Life of Stevenson, then Simon the Jester [William Locke novel]. That was their library, and thus rationed lasted them about half way through the winter…. On Sunday nights they sang with a religious bias.