p. 42-3, description of life of impressed seaman: With books he was for many years ‘very scantily supplied.’ It was not till 1812, indeed, that the Admiralty, shocked by the discovery that he had practically nothing to elevate his mind but daily association with the quarter-deck, began to pour into the fleet copious supplies of literature for his use. Thereafter the sailor could beguile his leisure with such books as the Old Chaplain’s Farewell Letter, Wilson’s Maxims, The Whole Duty of Man, Secker’s Duties of the Sick, and, lest returning health should dissipate the piety begotten of his ailments, Gibson’s Advice after Sickness. Thousands of pounds were spent upon this improving literature, which was distributed to the fleet in strict accordance with the amount of storage room available at the various dockyards. [Footnote: Ad. Accountant-General, Misc. (Various), No. 106—Accounts of the Rev. Archdeacon Owen, Chaplain-General to the Fleet, 1812-7.]
The Press-Gang Afloat and Ashore.
- Whalemen's Reading
Tales of the Ocean, and Essays for the Forecastle: Containing Matters and Incidents Humorous, Pathetic Romantic and Sentimental.
- Whalemen's Reading
An interesting combination of swashbuckling adventure and some appeal to puritan values.
The Ice and the Inland: Mawson, Flynn, and the Myth of the Frontier.
- 1911-14 Australasian Antarctic Expedition (Mawson).
- Antarctic Reading: Expeditions
A comparative study of two frontiersmen, Douglas Mawson’s work in Antarctica (mostly 1911-14) and John Flynn, a Presbyterian minister of the Australian Inland Mission. Concentrating on the AAE (1911-14) Hains has gone through many if not all of the diaries of participants, taking special note of their books and reading, more so than any expedition I know of.
Voyages of Discovery in the Arctic and Antarctic Seas, and Round the World: being Personal Narratives of Attempts to Reach the North and South Poles; and of an Open-boat Expedition up the Wellington Channel in Search of Sir John Franklin and Her Majesty’s ships “Erebus” and “Terror,” in Her Majesty’s Boat “Forlorn Hope,” under the Command of the Author. To which are Added an Autobiography….
- Maritime Reading
The author participated in three polar expeditions, an early 1827 North Pole attempt, the famous James Ross Clark Antarctic expedition on Erebus and Terror (1839-1843), and a Franklin Search expedition searching for the same two ships. The Ross voyage was the circumnavigation of M’Cormick’s title. [See the Anthology of the Antarctic Reading Experience under 1839.]
The Life of Sir Martin Frobisher.
- 1576-78 The Baffin Island Voyages of Martin Frobisher.
- Arctic Reading: Great Britain
p. 37-8: Expense inventory of Frobisher’s first voyage in 1576 include:
The Wreck of the
- Arctic Reading: Great Britain
A compelling tale of shipwreck told by Dickens in the first section, followed by a kind of Decameron of tales told by survivors of the shipwreck as they waited for rescue, and the story of the rescue as told by Collins.
Imagined Homelands: British Poetry in the Colonies.
- Arctic Reading: Great Britain
Two emphases in this work deal with the maritime reading experience.
Arctic Alaska and Siberia, Or, Eight Months with the Arctic Whalemen.
- Whalemen's Reading
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.
The Voyage of the Challenger.
- 1872-76 Challenger Expedition of Natural History (George Nares and Frank Thompson).
- Global Circumnavigations and Cape Horn Transits.
- Maritime Reading
Speaks here and there of the boredom of a scientific voyage that dredged ocean bottoms thousands of times through the ocean world. Dredging was known as “drudging” and even some desertions were attributed to boredom.
Ross in the Antarctic: The Voyages of James Clark Ross in Her Majesty’s Ships Erebus and Terror, 1839-1843.
- 1839-42 British Antarctic Expedition (James Clark Ross/Terror and Erebus).
- Antarctic Reading: Expeditions
An entire volume devoted to the Ross expedition with substantial chapters on each of the three Antarctic summer voyages, as well as material on each of the antipodean winter sojourns in Hobart, Tasmania, Sydney and New Zealand, and the Falklands.
Notes by a Naturalist on the Challenger, being an Account of Various Observations Made during the Voyage of H.M.S. “Challenger”… 1872-1876.
- 1872-76 Challenger Expedition of Natural History (George Nares and Frank Thompson).
- Global Circumnavigations and Cape Horn Transits.
- Maritime Reading
Moseley views most things from the viewpoint of a naturalist but brings a sympathetic humanity to everything he observes. One would have been fortunate to travel on the Challenger with him.
Alexander Mackenzie and the North West.
- Arctic Reading: Canada
p. 97, concerning his first Arctic trip in 1789: In this voyage I was not only without the necessary books and instruments, but also felt myself deficient in the science of astronomy and navigation. I did not hesitate therefore to undertake a winter’s voyage [to England] in order to procure the one and acquire the other.
A Personal Narrative of the Discovery of the North-West Passage…while in Search of the Expedition under Sir John Franklin.
- 1848-59 The Franklin Search.
- Arctic Reading: Great Britain
The Voyage of Investigator, with Capt. McClure, which separated from its consorts early in the trip, and struck off independently “with a firm reliance on a merciful Providence, and full confidence in our resources” (p. 74). Armstrong was the surgeon and naturalist aboard the Investigator.
Life at the Bottom: the People of Antarctica.
- 1975-76 NSF Sponsored Trip to McMurdo Sound.
- Antarctic Reading: Expeditions
Journalist’s account of an Antarctic visit in 1975-76, courtesy NSF.
Nimrod of the Sea; Or, The American Whaleman.
- Whalemen's Reading
p. 93, on facilities for seamen in Honolulu, providing a reading-room, a good library, and help in writing home: And let me here alarm the Christian hearts of the American people by informing them that in no other Christian port on the west coast of America was there a door to welcome or a roof to shelter the sixteen thousand souls engaged in whaling, other than that of a gaming-house, a grog-shop, or a brothel.