The Great Frozen Land (Bolshaia Zemelskija Tundra). Narrative of a Winter Journey across the Tundras and a Sojourn among the Samoyads.

Jackson, Frederick George. Edited from his Journals by Arthur Montefiore. London: Macmillan and Co, 1896.
  • 1893-94 British Russian Journey between White Sea and Kara Sea.
  • Arctic Reading: Great Britain
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Purpose to test newly developed equipment in severe conditions, but also to “visit and, for some months, to live with that primitive group of the human family, the Samoyads of the Great Frozen Tundra of Arctic Russia; to dwell in their tents, to eat of their food, to go and come with them in their daily life, to share their labour and their rest; to mark their ways and seek their motives, to note their relations to one another, and to learn, if possible, something of their sense of a higher influence” (p. ix).

Travel and Adventure in the Territory of Alaska, Formerly Russian America—Now Ceded to the United States—and in Other Parts of the North Pacific.

Whymper, Frederick. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1869.
  • Arctic Reading: United States
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p. 22: Enroute from England to Vancouver in June 1862 viâ the Horn on a steamer called Tynemouth: On board were some three hundred passengers, two-thirds of whom showed a total loss of dignity and self-respect during these early days, and made our vessel much resemble a floating hospital. But there is an end to all things; and by the time we reached the tropics, our friends had recovered their appetites, and, clad in light attire, lounged, smoking, chatting, and reading under the awnings, giving our decks the appearance of a nautical picnic. Our passengers were a study in themselves. They included a number of young men, much too large a proportion of whom .had apparently no profession, business, or definite aim in life, to auger well for their future career in a new country.

The Norwegian with Scott: Tryggve Gran’s Antarctic Diary 1910-1913.

Gran, Tryggve. Edited by Geoffrey Hattersley-Smith. Trans. by Ellen Johanne McGhie. London: National Maritime Museum, H.M.S.O., 1984.
  • 1910-14 British National Antarctic Expedition (Scott on Terra Nova).
  • Antarctic Reading: Expeditions
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p. 46: I spent some hours in the hut tonight, listening to our first gramophone concert; it was a delight to hear Caruso, Melba, and Tetrazzini, among other famous stars.

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 Forgotten Explorer: Carsten Egeberg Borchgrevink

Evans, Hugh Blackwall. Polar Record 17 (1984) 221-35.
  • 1898–1900 British Antarctic Expedition (Carsten Borchgrevink on Southern Cross).
  • Antarctic Reading: Expeditions
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Account of one of the first to set foot on Antarctica (Cape Adare Jan. 1895). Points out a good number of Borchgrevink’s claims for which there is no evidence, allowing the inference that Borchgrevink was a great liar.

Sleeping Island: The Story of One Man’s Travels in the Great Barren Lands of the Canadian North.

Downes, Prentice Gilbert. New York: Coward-McCann, 1943.
  • Hudson's Bay Company.
  • Arctic Reading: Canada
 Preview 

A delightful book of Chipawyan and Cree folklore by a regular American summer visitor in the 1930s and early 40s, a Harvard man (AB ’33) and high school teacher at Belmont Hill School. He loved exploring the Barren Lands during his summer breaks between 1937 and 1947. Shows signs of his fairly wide reading on the history of the region, but none of his own reading on this particular voyage. Since he never overwintered his opportunities for reading were limited.

Does Anyone Read Lake Hazen?

Jackson, C. Ian. Edmonton, ALB: Circumpolar Institute, 2002.
  • 1957-58 Canadian International Geographical Year Ellesmere Island Expedition.
  • Arctic Reading: Canada
 Preview 

Describes a Canadian expedition to northern Ellesmere Island 1957-58 as part of the International Geophysical Year.

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:

Skating to Antarctica: A Journey to the End of the World

Diski, Jenny. Hopewell, NJ: Ecco Press, 1997.
  • 1993-96? Tourist Excursion to South Georgia and Antarctic Peninsula aboard Academik Vasilov.
  • Antarctic Reading: Expeditions
 Preview 

This largely autobiographical work using the hook of a voyage to the Antarctic Peninsula aboard the tourist ship, Academik Vavilov, to explore the pained relation of the author to her parents, and her own daughter’s efforts to explore those relationships. The somewhat mean-spirited passages on the sea voyage to South Georgia and the Peninsula are outweighed by the psychological exploration of troubled parental relations. In essence there is little about Antarctica beyond descriptions of tourists and penguins, nothing about reading, and a bit about boredom.

A Narrative of Four Voyages, to the South Sea, North and South Pacific Ocean…and Antarctic Ocean. From the Year 1822 to 1831

Morrell, Benjamin, Jr. New-York: J. & J. Harper, 1832.
  • 1822-31 Four US Voyages to South and North Pacific Seas and Antarctica (Capt. Benjamin Morrell aboard Various Ships).
  • Arctic Reading: United States
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Morrell opens the work with a brief sketch of his own life, eldest son of a Stonington ship-builder, born in 1795 at Rye, NY. His merchant service seems to have taken him throughout the world.

Samuel Hearne & the Landscapes of Discovery.

Maclaren, I. S. Canadian Literature No. 103 (1984) 27-40.
  • Hudson's Bay Company.
  • Arctic Reading: Canada
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In seeking the sublime and picturesque Hearn found in the northern landscape “what he had been taught to look for.” A landscape of barren hills and open marshes is appropriate for the barbarity of Hearne’s account.