Report of the Operations of the U.S. Revenue Steamer Nunivak on the Yukon River Station, Alaska, 1899-1901.

Cantwell, John C. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1902.
  • 1899-1901 US Revenue Operations in Alaska (commanded John C. Cantwell aboard Revenue Steamer Nunivak).
  • Arctic Reading: United States
 Preview 

p. 49: Grouse and ptarmigan were fairly abundant throughout the winter and not only afforded excellent sport, but also furnished an agreeable change from our rather monotonous fare of canned meats. Two days of the week were set aside as holidays for the crew and permission was granted them to go hunting and trapping in the vicinity of Fort Shoemaker. With one or two exceptions, however, the men preferred to remain on board reading, smoking, or sleeping, rather than to go on hunting trips through the woods after game. As the regular drills and other duties gave them plenty of out-of-door exercise, I did not interfere with their method of spending the time given them for recreation and amusement.

The Private Journal of William Reynolds; United States Exploring Expedition, 1838-1842.

Reynolds, William. London: Penguin Books, 2004.
  • 1838-42 U.S. Exploring Expedition (Wilkes).
  • Antarctic Reading: Expeditions
 Preview 

A healthy selection of Reynolds journals which includes his official account together with his own interpolations correcting that account. A good example is p. 11: “Captain Wilkes is a man of great talent {great mistake, did not at this time know him}, perhaps genius…. He has had much experience with them [various instruments] since, is an excellent astronomer {all in the wrong, all humbug—a little smattering & much boasting on his part deceived others besides myself}, & well acquainted with the mysteries of chemistry & the operations of natural philosophy.”

South Polar Times.

London: Smith, Elder, 1907-14. Dartmouth. STEF G850 1901 q. D7. 6 vols.
  • 1907-09 British Antarctic Expedition (Shackleton on Nimrod).
  • Antarctic Reading: Expeditions
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Vol. III. P. 37:

A Voyage Round the World with Captain James Cook in H.M.S. Resolution by Anders Sparrman.

Sparrman, Anders, 1748-1820. Introduction and Notes by Owen Rutter. Wood-engravings by Peter Barker-Mill. London: Golden Cockerel Press, 1944.
  • 1772-75 British Naval Expedition–Second Voyage (Captain James Cook aboard the Resolution).
  • “Discovery” of Antarctica.
  • Antarctic Reading: Expeditions
 Preview 

A Swedish botanist who was taken on board Cook’s second voyage at Cape Town where Cook had met the Forsters. Forster had studied under Linneaus, who had recommended him for a South African botany project. He joined the Resolution reluctantly and suffered/or helped cause the usual hostilities between officers and scientists, what he calls the “contempt of ignorance.”

The Last Viking: The Life of Roald Amundsen

Bown, Stephen R. . Boston: Da Capo Press, 2012.
  • Arctic Reading: General
 Preview 

Poorly documented, totally derivative (mainly from NY Times), this book is riddled with errors, but generally an engaging and respectful biography. Repeats story of Amundsen’s teenage reading of everything he could find on polar exploration, but adds something about a voyage from Spain to Florida: He is careful to emphasize Amundsen’s careful reading of fellow explorers and to use that information to give himself an extra edge. For that Amundsen probably gets insufficient credit.

Antarctic Navigation. A novel.

Arthur, Elizabeth. New York: Knopf, 1995.
  • 1910-14 British National Antarctic Expedition (Scott on Terra Nova).
  • Antarctic Reading: Expeditions
 Preview 

A novel about Scott’s last expedition, and a modern day female attempt to recreate that expedition

Reminiscences of service aboard USS Flasher (SSN 613) as yeoman submariner in 1966-69.

Gleave, Dale.
  • 1966-68 US Deployment of USS Flasher to Kamchatka and Beyond.
  • Arctic Reading: United States
 Preview 

The sub adopted as its honorary submariner the novelist Louis L'Amour, author of Western thrillers. Dale was the yeoman who corresponded with him, sent him a letter when they crossed the equator, and L'Amour in turn sent signed copies of all his work to the ship.

Archives.

Marvin, Ross. Chemung County Historical Society, 415 E Water St. Elmira, NY.
  • 1891-1920 Robert Peary and the Search for the North Pole; 1905-06 US North Polar Expedition under Robert E. Peary (aboard Roosevelt).
  • Arctic Reading: United States
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Log book kept by Ross G. Marvin July 1905-Jan 1906, during Peary’s North Pole attempt. Marvin was an Assistant to Peary, and Henson was Peary’s Personal Assistant. Marvin also kept a personal diary from July 15 1905 to Sept. 12, 1905.

By Airplane towards the North Pole: An Account of an Expedition to Spitzbergen in the Summer of 1923.

Mittelholzer, Walter, et al. Translated from the German by Eden & Cedar Paul. London: George Allen & Unwin, 1925.
  • 1923 German Air Expedition to Spitsbergen.
  • Arctic Reading: Europe including Scandinavia
 Preview 

This expedition had the two-fold purposes of aerial photography of the Spitsbergen interior, and making the case (albeit in the interests of the Junker aircraft corporation) for the utility of aircraft in polar exploration. In a book devoted to exploration by air it would appear unsurprising that there is no apparent reference to reading as appears in most other exploration literature. It does have this curious reference to Robert Peary’s claim to the North Pole discovery of 1909: “But Peary’s aim had been the establishment of a sporting record, rather than the advancement of science” (p. 164-65).

Hunting with the Eskimos: The Unique Record of a Sportsman’s Year among the Northernmost Tribe….

Whitney, Harry. New York: Century Co., 1910.
  • Arctic Reading: Inuit and other indigenous people
 Preview 

Whitney traveled with Peary to Greenland in 1908 and spent the year only with Eskimos north of Etah at Annootok, while Peary was making his north pole attempt. Whitney is the complete hunter, rich and well-provided, and demonstrates some intellectual curiosity about the natives and about the natural resources, and does try to master their language, but he evidently reads little except under the duress of prolonged inactivity.

A Thousand Days in the Arctic…with a Preface by Admiral Sir. F. Leopold McClintock.

Jackson, Frederick G. New York and London: Harper & Brothers, 1899.
  • 1894-97 British Jackson-Harmsworth Polar Expedition to Franz-Josef Land.
  • Arctic Reading: Great Britain
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This is the expedition which Nansen found (or vice versa) when returning from his North Polar trip, June 17, 1896. Jackson’s ship was the Windward which took Nansen back to Norway, returning the following July to return the whole Jackson expedition.

Papers, ca. 1840-1865, ca. 3000 items, photographs.

Foulke, William Parker. American Philosophical Society. APS 1854.
  • Arctic Reading: United States
 Preview 

A pillar of Philadelphia society and the APS, Foulke’s papers are quite diverse and include Arctic material related to Kane and Hayes in particular.

Ship’s Libraries; Their Need and Usefulness.

Pierson, John S. (New York: American Seamen’s Friend Society, 1878). 33 p.
  • Maritime Reading
 Preview 

p. ?? After you’ve done everything to assure the physical and spiritual welfare of the sailor, “the only way left to reach him is by the printed truth—The Bible, the tract, the good book. Just here then comes in the ship’s library with its indispensable offices,--the last important advance made in the line of religious work among seamen,--the ‘missing link,’ I think we may call it, in the chain of evangelical agencies for their benefit.”

Thulia: A Tale of the Antarctic.

Palmer, James Croxall. New-York: S. Colman, 1843.
  • 1838-42 U.S. Exploring Expedition (Wilkes).
  • Antarctic Reading: Expeditions
 Preview 

A narrative poem about the sailing travails of the US schooner Flying-Fish on the US Exploring Expedition (1838-42). An appendix describes the circumstances that the poem portrays. Basically this is doggerel poetry describing two vessels of the Wilkes Exploring Expedition, the Peacock, and the Flying-Fish. An appendix describes the adventures of the latter ship: