The Enterprise and the Investigator set sail together in 1850 to establish the North Pacific arm of the Franklin Search, hoping to meet the by-then missing Franklin as he emerged from the Northwest Passage. It was not to be: the ships were separated after successfully navigating the straights of Magellan only to be met by high seas that separated them forever. This paper was communicated to the RGS by Sir George Back, from Captain Collinson of the Enterprise.
[Review]. “Account of the Proceedings of H. M. S. Enterprise from Behring Strait to Cambridge Bay.” By Capt. R. Collinson.
Back, George. Journal of the Royal Geographic Society of London 25 (1855) p. 194-206.
- 1848-59 The Franklin Search.
- Arctic Reading: Great Britain
Preview
The Adelie Blizzard: Mawson’s Forgotten Newspaper 1913.
Preface by Emma McEwin. Introduction by Elizabeth Leane and Mark Pharoah. Adelaide: Friends of the State Library of South Australia…, 2010.
- 1911-14 Australasian Antarctic Expedition (Mawson).
- Antarctic Reading: Expeditions
Preview
An elegant facsimile of the newspaper of Douglas Mawson’s Australasian Antarctic Expedition of 1913, taken from the only extant copy. The AAE had a well-stocked library, and though much of the content of the Blizzard was poetic doggerel, there was both serious and satiric discussion of books and also a series in each issue on Polar exploration, based on some of the library’s books.
The Polar Regions.
Debenham, Frank. London: E. Benn, 1930.
- Arctic Reading: General
Preview
p. 32ff. Chapter III on Polar Travel is a brief history of polar exploration, citing Frobisher, Hudson, Barents, Spitsbergen Dutch whalers, Franklin, “Parry, McClintock, Kane, Greely, Nansen, Peary, and Koch, while the Antarctic has its own list including the names of Ross, Scott, Shackleton, Amundsen, Mawson, and Nordenskiöld” (p. 36).
The Big Sea: An Autobiography….
Hughes, Langston. (New York: Hill & Wang, 1963). [First published in 1940.].
- Whalemen's Reading
Preview
p. 3: Melodramatic maybe, it seems to me now. But then it was like throwing a million bricks out of my heart when I threw the book into the water. I leaned over the rail of the S.S. Malone and threw the books as far as I could out into the sea—all the books I had had at Columbia, and all the books I had lately bought to read.
Gold Hunting in Alaska as Told by Joseph Grinnell.
Grinnell, Joseph. Edited by Elizabeth Grinnell… Dedicated to Disappointed Gold-Hunters the World Over. Elgin, IL., David C. Cook Publishing Company, 1901.
- Arctic Reading: United States
Preview
A youthful tale, claimed to be true, edited and published by Grinnell’s mother, intended merely for “the folks at home.”
Finding Franklin: The Untold Story of a 165-Year Search.
Potter, Russell A. (Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2016).
- 1848-59 The Franklin Search.
- Arctic Reading: Great Britain
Preview
p. 11: McClintock found one of these [Franklin whale]boats abandoned on the western shore of the island; in it were two skeletons along with an astonishing array of materials—silver forms and spoons, tea, chocolate, lead sheeting, carpet slippers, dozens of books (including bibles, prayer books, and a copy of The Vicar of Wakefield), and much other such bric-a-brac, which McClintock regarded as “a mere accumulation of dead weight” that would have made hauling the oak-and-iron sledge even more exhausting.
With the Battle Fleet: Cruise of the Sixteen Battleships of the United States Atlantic Fleet from Hampton Roads to the Golden Gate, December, 1907—May, 1908.
Matthews, Franklin. Illus. by Henry Reuterdahl. New York: B. W. Huebsch, 1909.
- 1907-09 US Circumnavigation by the Great White Fleet.
- Arctic Reading: United States
Preview
p. 103, on the bluejackets in Rio: The first thing that greeted the eye of every man who landed at the beautiful park that used to be an eyesore in the central part of the waterfront was a big sign reading : "Information Bureau for American Seamen." It was an information bureau, a real one. It was the most useful kind of a welcome ever provided in a foreign port for the sailors of any people. The American and English residents, aided by those of other countries, had been busy preparing for weeks for the visit of Jack ashore. Every safeguard, every assistance that was possible to make his liberty comfortable, profitable, enjoyable was looked after. It took hard cash to do it, but the money was raised and it amounted to thousands of dollars. In the first place, the ferry company to Nictheroy set apart a large room in its commodious new building. Counters were put up for information booths, postal card booths, exchange of money, sale of various kinds of tickets for things with guides by the score and attendants anxious to answer all kinds of questions. Men and women worked there from twelve to fourteen hours a day for ten days in the stifling heat, all eager to be of assistance to Jack ashore. A pamphlet was provided giving a map of the city and displaying all the chief places of interest. Full information was printed about everything that a man bent on rational enjoyment could desire. The pamphlets told all about transportation, about the places to see, about postage and the many general and special excursions that had been planned.
Come North with Me: An Autobiography.
Balchen, Bernt. New York: E.P. Dutton, 1958.
- Antarctic Reading: General
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Balchen, Bernt, 1899-1979—Norwegian/American Explorer and Pilot. From a very early age Balchen was fascinated by the allure of the Polar regions and the prospect of using aviation to explore them. From 1925 until well after World War II he was involved in many of the most dramatic and often dangerous exploits of many of the Polar explorers and he knew most of them: Amundsen, Nobile, Ellsworth, Byrd, etc. and he is widely believed to be the first person to fly over both Poles, with Amundsen in the North and Byrd in the South. He held dual citizenship of both Norway and the United States, and served in the US Army Air Force in secret operations supporting the Norwegian resistance during the World War II.
The Rescue of Greely.
Schley, Winfield Scott. By Commander W. Scott and Professor J. R. Soley. New York: Scribner’s, 1885.
- 1881-84 International Physical Year US Expedition to Lady Franklin Bay (led by Adolphus Greely).
- Arctic Reading: United States
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The author sums up the expedition on p. 142 as follows:
Scott, Shackleton and Amundsen: Ambition and Tragedy in the Antarctic.
Thomson, David. New York: Thunder’s Mouth Press, 2002 [first published 1977].
- Antarctic Reading: General
Preview
A revision of a pre-Huntford critical work on Scott, though he says he didn’t know he was writing a “debunking” biography in 1977. Doesn’t have the acerbic bite of Huntford, but has something critical to say about all three explorers.
Leviathan: The History of Whaling in America.
Dolan, John Davis. New York: Norton, 2007.
- Whalemen's Reading
Preview
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.
Narrative of a Voyage to the Northwest Coast of America in the Years 1811, 1812, 1813, and 1814, or the First American Settlement of the Pacific.
Franchère, Gabriel. Translated and Edited by J. V. Huntington. New York: Redfield, 1854. [See also the Champlain Society Edition of 1969].
- 1811-1814 US Voyage to Northwest Coast of America and America’s First American Settlement.
- Arctic Reading: United States
Preview
p. 5-7, in Preface to Second Edition: Without disparagement of Mr. Irving ’s literary fame, I may venture to say that I found in his work inaccuracies, misstatements (unintentional of course), and a want of chronological order, which struck forcibly one so familiar with the events themselves. I thought I could show or rather that my simple narration, of itself, plainly discovered that some of the young men embarked in that expedition (which founded our Pacific empire), did not merit the ridicule and contempt which Captain T horn attempted to
The Great White Fleet. Its Voyage Around the World 1907-1909.
Hart, Robert A. Boston: Little Brown, 1965.
- 1907-09 US Circumnavigation by the Great White Fleet.
- Arctic Reading: United States
Preview
A balanced account of sardonic admiration for what was intended as a show of naval strength and yet often regarded as President Roosevelt’s political publicity stunt by much of the western world. It also touted the “Yellow Peril” despite a peaceful visit to Japan.
The Wonders of the Arctic World: A History of All the Researches and Discoveries in the Frozen North, from the Earliest Times. Together with a Complete and Reliable History of The Polaris Expedition. By William H. Cunnington.
Sargent, Epes L. [“Perils and Escapes among Icebergs!” precedes title.] Philadelphia, John E. Potter, 1873.
- 1870-73 US North Pole Expedition of Charles Hall (aboard USS Polaris).
- Arctic Reading: United States
Preview
This large volume neatly combines two works, the first a general history of arctic exploration up to the Hall expedition (Sargent) with an early hagiography of Hall, or in Parry’s words, a “massive whitewash” .
Master Mariner and Arctic Explorer: A Narrative of Sixty Years at Sea from the Logs and Yarns of Captain J. E. Bernier.
Bernier, J. E. Ottawa, Ont.: Le Droit, 1939.
- Arctic Reading: Canada
Preview
Autobiographical collage by the well-known Canadian mariner, with emphasis on his obsession with the North. Introduction by E.T. [?] is dedicated to Bernier’s wife and gives a succinct summary of Bernier’s life including his four Canadian government expeditions to the North. He was a dedicated Catholic, a lifelong teetotaler, and put his faith in divine Providence.