Report on the Dominion Government Expedition to Arctic Islands and the Hudson Strait on Board the C.G.S. “Arctic” 1906-1907.

Bernier, J. E. By Captain J. E. Bernier, Canada. Dept. of Marine and Fisheries. Ottawa, CAN: Govt. Printed by C. H. Parmelee…, 1909.
  • 1906-07 Canadian Expedition to Arctic Islands and the Hudson Strait (aboard Arctic commanded by J. E. Bernier).
  • Arctic Reading: Canada
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Part of the purpose of this expedition was to make territorial land claims for Canada “asserting Canadian sovereignty in the Arctic regions which are territory of this Dominion by right of cession made to Canada by the imperial government” (p. 3). It also restored a memorial tablet in honour of Sir John Franklin on Beechey Island.

The Seamen’s Friend: a Sketch of the American Seamen’s Friend Society by its Secretary.

Webster, George Sidney. New York: American Seamen’s Friend Society, 1932.
  • Maritime Reading
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p. 9: NY Bethel Union formed June 4, 1821, modeled on the Bethel Union of London. Mariners’ Magazine in April 1825 advocated for a similar society in NY. By then, the Magazine said, there were seventy Bethel Unions, 33 Marine Bible societies, and 15 seamen’s churches and floating Bethels.

The Voyage of the Resolution and Discovery 1776-1780.

Cook, James, Captain. Edited by J. C. Beaglehole. Two volumes. (Cambridge: Hakluyt Society, 1967).
  • 1776-80 British Naval Expedition–Third Voyage (Captain James Cook aboard Discovery and Resolution).
  • Global Circumnavigations and Cape Horn Transits.
  • Maritime Reading
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These volumes cover Cook’s attempt on his third voyage at finding the Northwest Passage from the west but ending in his death. Included in the volume are the surviving journals of officers of the expedition, including various descriptions of the death of Cook.

Ten Months Among the Tents of the Tuski, with Incidents of an Arctic Boat Expedition in Search of Sir John Franklin, as far as the Mackenzie River, and Cape Bathurst.

Hooper, William H. (London: John Murray, 1853).
  • 1848-59 The Franklin Search.
  • Arctic Reading: Great Britain
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William Hulme Hooper (1827-1854) was a lieutenant in the Royal Navy, and part of the 1848 expedition aboard the Plover, under the command of Capt. T. E. L. Moore, to search for the ill-fated Franklin expedition. Moore's expedition spent three years in the high Arctic, wintering the first year (1848-1849) on the Chukotsk Peninsula, later sailing to the Beaufort Sea. From there, Hooper made two overland trips up the Mackenzie River to Fort Simpson, on the second of which he travelled overland to Norway House, The Pas, and south through what is now Manitoba to reach the voyageur route back to Montreal, and thence to England (see Arctic Bibliography 7395). This is a very scarce account, seldom mentioned in most histories of Arctic exploration, and often overlooked in the lore of the search for Sir John Franklin and his party. Notwithstanding, Hooper's account is full of interesting information and observations, including detailed descriptions of the life, customs, dwellings, clothing and beliefs of the Chukchis (Tuski), and of the North Alaska Eskimo generally; as well as notes on the Mackenzie Eskimo and Indians, sea and river ice, hunting and trapping, and the character of the territory covered in his journeys.

Shores of the Polar Sea: A Narrative of the Arctic Expedition of 1875-6.

Moss, Edward L. (London: Marcus Ward & Co., 1878).
  • Arctic Reading: Great Britain
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p. 9: While our two ships steamed northward along the west shores of Greenland, the novel charm of constant daylight was felt by every one. We all had our own ideas of what Arctic summer would be like, but ideas drawn from books rarely remain unchanged when brought face to face with reality. Although the passage into perpetual day was of course gradual, yet it was quite rapid enough to upset all regular habits.

The Wicked Mate: the Antarctic Diary of Victor Campbell. An Account of the Northern Party….

Campbell, Victor. Edited by H. G. R. King. Bluntisham, UK: Bluntisham books, 1988.
  • 1910-14 British National Antarctic Expedition (Scott on Terra Nova).
  • Antarctic Reading: Expeditions
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Campbell’s chief Antarctic activity was as first officer to Robert Falcon Scott on the Terra Nova expedition. As leader of the Northern Party (earlier called the Eastern Party), he led his team of six men while stranded for a winter in an ice cave on Inexpressible Island. On returning finally to Cape Evans and learning of Scott’s death, Campbell took command of the Terra Nova expedition.

Narrative of the North Polar Expedition. U.S. Ship Polaris, Captain Charles Francis Hall Commanding.

Davis, Charles H. Edited under the Directtion of Hon. G. M. Robeson... by Rear-Admiral C. H. Davis, Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1876.
  • 1870-73 US North Pole Expedition of Charles Hall (aboard USS Polaris).
  • Arctic Reading: United States
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Here is the official report of the Expedition, prepared from the journals of the officers and men, including the incidents of George Tyson’s ice-floe party. William Barr, in his 2016 edition of Bessel’s journal, refers to this as a “sugar-coated” account of the expedition.

I Am Just Going Outside: Captain Oates—Antarctic Tragedy.

Smith, Michael. Staplehurst, Kent, UK: Spellmount [2002].
  • 1910-14 British National Antarctic Expedition (Scott on Terra Nova).
  • Antarctic Reading: Expeditions
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Interesting if not well-written biography of Titus Oates, emphasizing his patrician background, his dyslexia and reading and examination problems, his love for horses, and his distaste for Scott. The Oates family gave no cooperation to the book, presumably because it ends with “A second tragedy”, the story of an illegitimate daughter about whom Oates knew nothing. He clearly didn’t do a lot of reading but he had Napier’s History of the Peninsular War and was an admirer of Napoleon (see p. 102 and 245) and had his portrait at Cape Evans.

Tammarniitt (mistakes): Inuit Relocation in the Eastern Arctic, 1939-63.

Tester, Frame James and Peter Kulchyski. Vancouver, BC: University of British Columbia Press, 1994.
  • Arctic Reading: Inuit and other indigenous people
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Examines government involvement in Northern Canada which led to relocation of Inuit from the east coast of Hudson's Bay to the high Arctic, the Henik Lake and Garry Lake famines, the establishment of Whale Cove in response to inland famines in the Keewatin, and the second wave of state expansion in the 1950's.

Peter Fidler’s Library: Philosophy and Science in Rupert’s Land.

Lindsay, Debra. Readings in Canadian Library History. Edited by Peter F. McNally. (Toronto: Canadian Library Association, 1986). p. 209-29.
  • Hudson's Bay Company.
  • Arctic Reading: Canada
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p. 209: Peter Fidler, Hudson’s Bay Company servant [surveyor] 1788-1822, was one of the first owners and collectors of books in Rupert’s Land. His penchant for books was not an isolated case of individualism gone berserk, but his permanent acquisition of vast numbers of books was a unique occurrence in Rupert’s Land…. Fidler’s library eventually reached five hundred volumes, a massive collection for a man of modest means.

Journal of Transactions and Events, during a Residence of Nearly Sixteen Years on the Coast of Labrador; Containing Many Interesting Particulars, Both of the Country and Its Inhabitants, Not Hitherto Known

Townsend, George. Three Volumes. Newark, UK: Allin and Ridge, 1792.
  • Arctic Reading: Canada
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Townsend took six voyages to Labrador over sixteen years and this is his personal account of his experiences. Throughout the journal are many references to reading prayers to his family, sometimes twice a day.

Libris Polaris.

Jones, Bassett. Columbia University Library Collection. Notes.
  • Arctic Reading: General
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Collection of Bassett Jones at Columbia University Library. [MS CollLibris Polaris]. Bassett Jones was a collector and member of both Explorers and Grolier Clubs. He and Stefansson did a major exhibit of polar exploration literature in English at the Grolier Club in January 1932. In that year Jones was also Acting President of the Eplorers Club. He then lived at 1088 Park Avenue. Bartlett in the National Geographic says: “ We stopped for a couple of days at Nantucket, and there, through the generosity of Bassett Jones, electrical engineer in charge of the lighting at the New York World’s Fair, we acquired an otter trawl, which later enabled us to bring back a wealth of specimens from the floor of the ocean.”