Narrative of a Voyage of H.M.S. Herald during the Years 1845-51, under the Command of Captain Henry Kellett…being A Circumnavigation of the Globe.

Seemann, Berthold. Two volumes. London: Reeve and Co., 1853.
  • 1845-51 British Voyage of Exploration to the West Coast and the Pacific (Commanded by Henry Kellett aboard HMS Herald).
  • Arctic Reading: Great Britain
 Preview 

This expedition was focused on the US West Coast and Pacific natural history rather than high latitudes though it did reach the Bering Strait. Its focus was chiefly botanical.

Son of the North.

Roberts, Osseannah. Boston, MA: C. M. Clark Publishing Co., 1908.
  • Arctic Reading: Canada
 Preview 

A fictional romance of North Canada about immigrants from Scotland, with a few reports of reading incorporated into the novel.

The Adelie Blizzard: Mawson’s Forgotten Newspaper 1913.

Preface by Emma McEwin. Introduction by Elizabeth Leane and Mark Pharoah. Adelaide: Friends of the State Library of South Australia…, 2010.
  • 1911-14 Australasian Antarctic Expedition (Mawson).
  • Antarctic Reading: Expeditions
 Preview 

An elegant facsimile of the newspaper of Douglas Mawson’s Australasian Antarctic Expedition of 1913, taken from the only extant copy. The AAE had a well-stocked library, and though much of the content of the Blizzard was poetic doggerel, there was both serious and satiric discussion of books and also a series in each issue on Polar exploration, based on some of the library’s books.

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.

Narrative of a Voyage to Hudson’s Bay in His Majesty’s Ship Rosamond Containing some Account of the North-Eastern Coast of America and of the Tribes of That Remote Region.

Chappell, Edward. London: Printed for J. Mawman, Ludgate Street, 1817.
  • Arctic Reading: Canada
 Preview 

Chappell was a Lieutenant in the Royal Navy who published two books on his Newfoundland, Labrador, and Hudson’s Bay voyages. He was one of the first English explorers to spend time with the indigenous peoples, both Indian and Esquimaux. He was rather viciously attacked by William Gifford’s Quarterly Review; his own scathing response is included at the end of some copies of both of his books.

The Worst Journey in the World. [1910-12]

Cherry-Garrard, Apsley. New York: Carroll & Graf, 1989 [1992]. First published London: Constable and Co., 1922.
  • 1910-14 British National Antarctic Expedition (Scott on Terra Nova).
  • Antarctic Reading: Expeditions
 Preview 

Often thought the finest book on Antarctic exploration, this is a dramatic account of Scott's 1910-13 expedition. The expedition was comprised of three actual journeys: the depot journey, during which supplies were laid for the polar trip; the winter journey to Cape Crozier to visit the penguin rookery—the "worst journey" of the title; and the final, tragic attempt on the pole, during which Scott and four others perished. The story of Scott's last expedition is of course a great tale, and Cherry-Garrard uses his considerable skill as a writer to heighten the drama, aided also in his writing by suggestions from George Bernard Shaw.

Danish Arctic Expeditions, 1605 to 1620. In Two Books: Book I. The Danish Expeditions to Greenland…; Book II. The Expedition of Captain Jens Munk.

Gosch, C.C.A. Edited, with Notes and Annotations by C.A. Gosch. Two Volumes. London: Hakluyt Society, 1897.
  • 1605-1620 Danish Arctic Expeditions.
  • Arctic Reading: Europe including Scandinavia
 Preview 

Book I: The Danish Expeditions to Greenland in 1605, 1606, and 1607; to which is Added Captain James Hall’s Voyage to Greenland in 1612.

Edward Wilson of the Antarctic: Naturalist and Friend.

Seaver, George. With an introduction by Apsley Cherry-Garrard. London: John Murray, 1933.
  • Heroic Age 1901-1921.
  • Antarctic Reading: Expeditions
 Preview 

Although Wilson was known to be an assiduous reader, as well as deeply religious, not much of his reading appears in this biography. Here are a few related references:

Journal of a Voyage to the Arctic 1901-02. S S Discovery.

Duncan, James. By J. Duncan. Typescript of Manuscript Journal. Dundee, Scotland: Dundee Art Galleries and Museums. Human History Section, 1973?.
  • 1901-04 British National Antarctic Expedition (Scott aboard Discovery).
  • Antarctic Reading: Expeditions
 Preview 

Duncan was a civilian shipwright from Dundee who helped build the Discovery and joined the expedition as an able bodied seaman when the ship was completed. He served as carpenter and in other construction projects (e.g., the Wind Mill) and sometimes as cook, and returned with the Morning after one year. His spelling is phonetic at best (or was it the typist’s?) so that proper names become an interesting puzzle as presented in this transcript. When at sea the journal reads much like a deck log but there is some more substance in the entries made ashore. Here are a few examples of his journal style:

Shackleton’s Forgotten Expedition: The Voyage of the Nimrod

Riffenbergh, Beau. New York: Bloomsbury, 2004.
  • 1907-09 British Antarctic Expedition (Shackleton on Nimrod).
  • Antarctic Reading: Expeditions
 Preview 

A thorough and balanced defence of Shackleton and his achievement in the furthest south of 1909, against Markham’s attempts to besmearch his reputation.

Russians in the Arctic: Aspects of Soviet Exploration and Exploitation of the Far North, 1937-57

Armstrong, Terence. London: Methuen, 1958, p. 17-50.
  • Arctic Reading: Russia
 Preview 

Includes the remarkable story of the drift of the Sedov , 3800 miles and 800 days, covering some of the Fram route. In addition to schooling in engineering and navigation, there were also classes of ideological indoctrination. In its third year adrift members of the crew were nominated for political positions in Murmansk, and presumably as the only candidates were elected.

Relics of the Franklin Expedition: Discovering Artifacts from the Doomed Arctic Voyage of 1845.

Walpole, Garth. Edited by Russell Potter. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., 2017.
  • 1848-59 The Franklin Search.
  • Arctic Reading: Great Britain
 Preview 

p. 98-99, relics found at Terror Bay, in boxes found near the sunken ship, with Gilder’s account most focused on the books: Tuktoocheeah said a box containing the bones was outside [the boat] but that a tin box of full of books was in the boat (Stackpole 1965: 74, 75). Gilder recorded that Ogzeuckjeuwock “saw books in the boat place” and confirmed that they were “in the boat,” as was the box of bones (Gilder 2006: 72)…. All of the writers recorded that there were three separate boxes: the first, a metal (tin) box held a number of books; the second, of similar size, contained bones; and the third box, of tin with a red cover held tobacco (Stackpole 1965: 75; Barr 1987: 73; Gilder 2006:73). The box holding the books was variously measured as “about one and half feet wide, one foot deep and nearly two feet long,” (Stackpole 1965:75), “one foot wide and two foot long” (Barr 1987: 73) and “two feet long and a foot square” (Gilder 2006: 72), and was the same size as the box holding the bones, which Schwatka incidentally recorded as two feet long. The different lengths were derived by hand signs from the Inuit (Stackpole 1965: 75). [Has anyone noted that these sizes sound suspiciously similar to the size of ASFS loan libraries. The tin doesn’t sound right however, but these would have been British products.]