Cosmogony: or Thoughts on Philosophy.

Merrill, John. East Canaan, NH: Published by G. F. Kimball, 1860.
  • 1848-59 The Franklin Search.
  • Arctic Reading: Great Britain
 Preview 

Merrill was apparently on Kane’s 2d expedition for which he kept a journal and meteorological record (p. 14), and worked with Dr. Vreeland in observing auroras (p. 18-9, citing Kane I, p. 425)

The People of the Twilight.

Jenness, Diamond. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1959. [Phoenix Books. Preface by Fridtjof Nansen, dated March 4th, 1928. First published New York: Macmillan, 1928].
  • 1913-16 Canadian Arctic Expedition (Led by Stefansson with Captain Bob Bartlett commanding the Karluk).
  • Arctic Reading: Canada
 Preview 

This version of Jennes’s account of the Stefansson Canadian expedition of 1913 to 1916?? mirrors Dawn of Arctic Alaska but told apparently as a young adult tale. There is no need to repeat passages from that book, but relevant passages can be found on these pages of the Chicago edition: 14, 26, 30, 46, 47, 53, 58, and 62. A few are worth noting here:

Ships and Squadron Logistics,

Lundeberg, Philip K. in Magnificent Voyagers: The U.S. Exploring Expedition, 1838-1842. Edited by Herman J. Viola and Carolyn Margolis. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1985.
  • 1838-42 U.S. Exploring Expedition (Wilkes).
  • Antarctic Reading: Expeditions
 Preview 

p. 152, describing accommodations on the flagship Vincennes: Wilkes own stateroom and pantry, and a large reception room that accommodated drafting tables and a library of charts and scientific works, as well as the ample conference table and sideboards customary in small frigates.

Etah and Beyond: Or, Life Within Twelve Degrees of the Pole.

MacMillan, Donald Baxter. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1927.
  • 1926-27 US Northern Greenland Expedition (commanded by Donald MacMillan aboard Bowdoin).
  • Greenland.
  • Arctic Reading: Canada
 Preview 

A 1926-27 Greenland expedition aboard the Bowdoin, with the purpose of setting up new magnetic stations and resettling old ones.

The Historical Russian Library of Alaska

Andrews, Clarence L. Pacific Northwest Quarterly 29 (April 1938) p. 201-04.
  • Arctic Reading: Russia
 Preview 

Describes a collection of about 1200 volumes, mostly in Russian, sent from the Russian ship Nadezhda in 1803 and following years to “Our Colonies in America.” It was first at Kodiak, and then in Sitka before removal to the Mercantile Library of San Francisco in 1871, and eventual disposition. By 1825 it was described by Kyril Khlebnikof, chief of the counting house at Sitka: “The library in Sitka consists in more than one thousand two hundred volumes, which are held at 7500 rubles, in the number which are more than 600 Russian, 300 French, 130 German, 35 English, 30 Latin, and the remainder in Swedish, Dutch, Spanish and Italian languages.” How it was eventually found abandoned in San Francisco is not known, nor how it escaped the Great Fire. By 1869 Sitka had another library, its post library, but connected to the earlier one as far as the author can see.

South Latitude.

Ommanney, Francis Downes. London: Longmans, 1938.
  • Whalemen's Reading
 Preview 

A beautifully written book on whaling in the Weddell Sea, where R.R.S. Discovery II was trapped (like Endurance) but escaped.

A Sequel to the North-West Passage, and the Plans for the Search for Sir John Franklin. A Review.

Brown, John. Second edition.flattered London: E. Stanford, 1860.
  • 1848-59 The Franklin Search.
  • Arctic Reading: Great Britain
 Preview 

This second edition of Brown updates the summary beyond the significant date of 1859 and McClintock’s report. A final section is an unpaginated “Opinions of the Press,” ending with an encomium to Brown from Alexander von Humboldt (August 16, 1858), on the last printed [but unpaginated] page of the book. An excerpt is included here as a remarkable example of a reading experience from an unusual source:

Arctic Alaska and Siberia, Or, Eight Months with the Arctic Whalemen.

Aldrich, Herbert L. Chicago: Rand McNally, 1889.
  • Whalemen's Reading
 Preview 

p. 75: Each native is said to keep a diary of his hunting trips by carving the important events on a piece of ivory, showing his camps, shooting deer, walruses, seals or bears, or catching and driving fish. A few of the supposed diaries were offered for sale.

Diary, 1881 July 7—l883 Aug 2.

Rice, George W. Stefansson MSS. 186, Dartmouth College Library.
  • 1881-84 International Physical Year US Expedition to Lady Franklin Bay (led by Adolphus Greely).
  • Arctic Reading: United States
 Preview 

A record of Rice’s experiences as photographer on the Lady Franklin Bay Expedition, 1881-1884. Unpaged but carefully dated throughout.

Typescript of Orde Lees diary prepared by him for Shackleton.

Orde Lees, Thomas. SPRI MS 1605/5/1.
  • 1914-16 Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition (Shackleton on Endurance).
  • Antarctic Reading: Expeditions
 Preview 

Apparently Lees edited his diary, eliminating the first person, as grist for Shackleton’s book on the expedition—refers to himself in third person (Lees is our mess man) and Shackleton as Sir Ernest. Always seems excessively deferential to Shackleton, particularly in this typescript which Lees prepared for Sir Ernest.

Diary of the Terra Nova expedition to the Antarctic 1910-1912. An account of Scott’s last expedition edited from the original mss. in the Scott Polar Research Institute and the British Museum.

Wilson, Edward Adrian. London: Blandford Press [1972].
  • 1910-14 British National Antarctic Expedition (Scott on Terra Nova).
  • Antarctic Reading: Expeditions
 Preview 

p. 69, Dec. 5, 1910: I have been reading The Illustrious Prince, which Mrs. Wigram, you remember, gave me just before leaving New Zealand, a book I have thoroughly enjoyed—and the last novel, probably, that I shall read until we are well up in the warm sunshine on the way home. If I read novels habitually there would be no diary writing. As it is, the only quiet time in the day is from 4.30 a.m. or 5 a.m. to breakfast at 8 a.m.—and my writing is all done then.

“The Mirny Diary” 12 February 1958–7 February 1959

Rubin, Morton J. https://www.antarctican.org/s/MJRubin-Mirny_Diary-jspy.pdf.
  • Antarctic Reading: Expeditions
 Preview 

This detailed diary was contributed by Morton Rubin's brother Harry. He gives credit to Mr. and Mrs. Martin Sponholz for painstakingly deciphering and transcribing Morton's original hand-written manuscript. It is a fascinating glimpse of winterover life at an IGY Russian station.

The First Crossing of Spitzbergen, Being an Account of an Inland Journey of Exploration and Survey… and of an Almost Complete Circumnavigation of the Main Island…. With Contributions by J. W. Gregory, D.Sc. A. Trevor-Battye, and E. J. Garwood.

Conway, Sir William Martin. London: J. M Dent & Co.; New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1897.
  • 1896 and 1897 British Exploring Expeditions Crossing Spitzbergen and its Interior (led by Sir William Martin Conway).
  • Arctic Reading: Europe including Scandinavia
 Preview 

p. 36-37, describing some passengers on this tour boat: There was a crow's-nest to be fitted up. All sorts of people came to say good-bye—consuls, agents, dealers, and relatives or acquaintances of passengers. The deck was crowded. Glasses clinked. Every one was in the way of every one else, but the sun shone brightly and all were gay. In the midst of the shindy, Gregory digested geological papers from various journals, cross-questioned any one that came handy about Spitsbergen birds or the Norwegian vocabulary, and went on piling up information generally. “You read always,” said the French gentleman to him. “Yes,” was the merry reply; “you see I am young and have a lot to learn.” Garwood was also busy. He started from England with some work on hand still requiring a preface. With this he had been labouring in the intervals of sea-sickness, negative developing, baggage overhauling, and the rest, at odd moments during the voyage. The hour appointed for sailing came, but the preface lingered. Furiously the author worked on amongst teacups and the debris of food. At last the work was done. A wild rush on shore, and the precious document was consigned to the post and all the printer's devils.