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).

Naval Stories.

Leggett, William. New-York: G. & C. & H. Carvill, 1834. [Byron quote on title page:.
  • Maritime Reading
 Preview 

I have loved thee, Ocean! and my joy

Captain Scott’s Desert Island Discs: A Favour of What Were the Happening Sounds in Antarctica 100 Years Ago.

Rees, Jasper. (Wednesday, 11 April 2012) [Online source unknown.].
  • 1910-14 British National Antarctic Expedition (Scott on Terra Nova).
  • Antarctic Reading: Expeditions
 Preview 

Centenaries are sizeable business in 2012. It just so happens that the Olympics are coming to the United Kingdom for the third time in a year which finds us thinking very hard about if being British still means the same thing as it did 100 years when two momentous calamities singed themselves into the national psyche: the Titanic sank, and Captain Scott and his four companions never made it back from the South Pole.

Travel and Exploration sale. 27 September 1996.

Christie’s, London. London: Christie’s, 1996.
  • 1910-14 British National Antarctic Expedition (Scott on Terra Nova).
  • Antarctic Reading: Expeditions
 Preview 

Item 169: copy of New Testament owned by Oates, given to him in Dunedin by H. R. Falconer, a Seamen’s Missionary, Nov. 1910, and present on the Terra Nova expedition. Items 171-75 are George Marston paintings.

The Big Sea: An Autobiography….

Hughes, Langston. (New York: Hill & Wang, 1963). [First published in 1940.].
  • Maritime 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.

The Franklin Expedition from First to Last.

King, Richard. London: John Churchill, 1855.
  • 1848-59 The Franklin Search.
  • Arctic Reading: Great Britain
 Preview 

King was among the most ascerbic critics of most explorers other than himself, carrying his battles through the press and elsewhere. His expedition was ???

Eighteen Months on a Greenland Whaler.

Faulkner, Joseph P. New York: Published for the Author, 1878.
  • 1865-66 US Whaling Journey to Greenland (aboard Perseverance).
  • Arctic Reading: Canada
 Preview 

Rather charming and humorous writer who was a compositor, Civil War soldier, printer, etc., and nearly blind, before shipping to Greenland in May 1865-66.

Mawson: a Life.

Ayres, Philip. Melbourne, Aus.: The Miegunyah Press, 1999.
  • 1911-14 Australasian Antarctic Expedition (Mawson).
  • Antarctic Reading: Expeditions
 Preview 

A balanced biography of Mawson, emphasizing his achievements but not ignoring his sometimes depressive personality and temper.

Behind the Palisades: An Autobiography.

McTavish, George Simpson. Victoria, BC: Gray’s Publishing Canada, 1963.
  • Hudson's Bay Company.
  • Arctic Reading: Canada
 Preview 

McTavish (1834-93) was appointed Chief Trader of the Hudson’s Bay Company in 1859, serving in several posts including Fort William, Albany, Rupert’s House, Moose Factory, and other locations. He retired in 1880; this posthumously published autobiography shows him very supportive and loyal to the Company.

A Voyage to the Arctic in the Whaler Aurora

Lindsay, David Moore. Boston: Dana Estes, 1911.
  • 1884 Whaling Voyage to Greenland (aboard Aurora).
  • Arctic Reading: Canada
 Preview 

This voyage was in 1884 to Greenland fisheries via Newfoundland. His introduction is prescient: I cannot imagine it being read by many, as the subject can only interest a few who have themselves gone down to the sea in ships. (p. 11). Lindsay was a lively reader but more in retrospect than in this book.

Shipwrecked in Greenland.

Thompson, Arthur R. Boston: Little, Brown, 1905.
  • 1894 US Expedition to Greenland aboard Miranda.
  • Arctic Reading: United States
 Preview 

A summer pleasure expedition by a few American young men that ended in the shipwreck of the Miranda off the Greenland coast. Reads like a young adult adventure, introducing young readers to the realities of Arctic exploration.