Catalogue of the Library of Charles Dickens from Gadshill.

Dickens, Charles. [Arctic books in Dickens’ library, from J. H. Stonehouse, editor.] (London: Piccadilly Foundation Press, 1935).
  • Arctic Reading: Great Britain
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Dickens was very involved in the Franklin Search, including his extremely critical Household Words attacks on both the allegations of cannibalism and on the “savage” Inuit who were the messengers who brought the reprehensible news. This list has some of the fundamental publications on the Search as it developed.

Stray Leaves from an Arctic Journal: Or, Eighteen Months in the Polar Regions, in Search of Sir John Franklin’s Expedition, in the Years 1850-1851.

Osborn, Sherard. (New York: Putnam’s, 1852). Putnam’s Semi-Monthly Library. [There was another 1852 edition published in London by Longman Brown with different pagination (320 p.) and some variants.].
  • 1848-59 The Franklin Search.
  • Arctic Reading: Great Britain
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p. 21, re Brit. chauvinism: The whaler from bonnie Scotia, or busy Hull, fresh from the recollection of his laird and home, no doubt shudders at the comparative misery and barbarity of these poor people; but those who have seen the degraded Bushmen of South Africa, the miserable Patanies of Malayia, the Fuegians of our southern hemisphere, and remember the comparative blessings afforded by climate to those melancholy specimens of the human family, will, I think, exclaim with me, that the Esquimaux of Greenland are as superior to them in mental capacity, manual dexterity, physical enterprise, and social virtues, as the Englishman is to the Esquimaux.

The U.S. Grinnell Expedition in Search of Sir John Franklin: A Personal Memoir

Kane, Elisha Kent. New York: Harper, 1854.
  • 1848-59 The Franklin Search.
  • Arctic Reading: Great Britain
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Kane was surgeon aboard the Advance, under the command of Edwin De Haven. The search did find the three graves at Beechey Island, but DeHaven felt the voyage to be ineffectual. Kane went on to command the second Grinnell expedition in 1853.

The Hookers of Kew 1785-1911.

Allan, Mea. London: Michael Joseph, 1967.
  • 1839-42 British Antarctic Expedition (James Clark Ross/Terror and Erebus).
  • Antarctic Reading: Expeditions
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Joseph Hooker was part of the Erebus and Terror Antarctic expedition led by James Clark Ross, an expedition poorly equipped for scientific investigation:

Mariner’s Sketches, Originally Published in the Manufacturers and Farmers Journal, Providence.

Ames, Nathaniel. Revised, Corrected and Enlarged by the author. Providence: Cory, Marshall and Hammond, 1830.
  • Arctic Reading: United States
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The author Nathaniel Ames was the son of the statesman, Fisher Ames (1758-1808), of Dedham, Massachusetts, and was a congressman from 1789 to 1797. Nathaniel was named for his grandfather, Nathaniel Ames, famous for the Ames Almanacs, which were the inspiration to Benjamin Franklin's "Poor Richard's Almanac".

Of Whales and Men.

Robertson, R. B. New York: Knopf, 1954.
  • Whalemen's Reading
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A delightful account of a ship’s doctor on an 8-month cruise of a whaling factory ship, with something of a psychological emphasis on the men he was with.

Mid-Ice: The Story of the Wegener Expedition to Greenland.

Georgi, Johannes. Translation by F. H. Lyon. [Preface by Einar Mikkelsen] London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner, 1934.
  • 1930-31 German Expedition to Greenland (Alfred Wegener).
  • Arctic Reading: Europe including Scandinavia
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p. xii: It is a human document of importance, which will show coming generations till remote ages what German scientists will dare that they may follow their scientific vocation and do honour to their country.

A Voyage to the South Pacific and Round Cape Horn into the Pacific Ocean, for the Purpose of Extending the Spermaceti Whale Fisheries….

Colnett, James. London: W. Bennett, 1798.
  • Whalemen's Reading
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James Colnett was an officer of the British Royal Navy, an explorer, and a maritime fur trader. He served under James Cook during Cook's second voyage of exploration. Later he led two private trading expeditions that involved collecting sea otter pelts in the Pacific Northwest of North America and selling them in Canton, China, where the British East India Company maintained a trading post. Wintering in the recently discovered Hawaiian Islands was a key component of the new trade system.

Innocents in the Arctic: The 1951 Spitsbergen Expedition.

Bull, Colin. Fairbanks, AK: University of Alaska Press, 2005.
  • 1951 British Spitsbergen Expedition.
  • Arctic Reading: Great Britain
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p. 115: Otherwise, when confined to the tent, they talked and, when all subjects had been exhausted, either slept or read. In addition to a few books they had newspapers galore, generously supplied by a Birmingham dealer for safely wrapping the fossils and rock samples. The newspapers were used for extra insulation and to mop up penetrating precipitation. When the level of water in the tent exceeded the mopping capabilities of the newspapers, the occupants encouraged the water into a sump and made a suitable drain hole in the sewn-in ground sheet. They, and we three in the other inland party, were all much disappointed to find that all of the copies of the newspaper were of the same date and the same edition. Consequently we all learned some of the text by heart.

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
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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.”

Personal communication from David H. W. Wilson, Emeritus Fellow, British Antarctic Survey, January 20, 2014.

Walton, David H. W.
  • 2013-14 Antarctic Study Cruises to Patagonia and Antarctica aboard Seabourn Quest.
  • Antarctic Reading: Expeditions
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The late David Walton was a lecturer on this cruise and his description of library facilities on the cruise tells a good deal about changes in book and information provision aboard expeditionary ships, including commercial trips, in the 21st century.

“Arctic Explorers at Work and Play, 1824-1854: Six Rare broadsides recently acquired for the rare book Collection”

Hoag, Elaine. National Library of Canada Bulletin 34 (Jan-Feb 2002) –7 pages from the web.
  • Arctic Reading: General
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p. 3, Parry’s Hecla while wintering in the Arctic in December 1824: It was Parry who had recognized that the Arctic expeditions of his predecessors had often been jeopardized, not by the dangers of the journey itself, but by the long inactive winter layover, with its monotonous diet, unvaried company, restricted physical activity, lack of light and warmth, and simple boredom. In response, Parry instituted a highly successful wintering regime that included shipboard theatricals, concerts and masquerades among its many elements. Broadside advertisements were a natural adjunct to these activities.

The Ascent of Denali (Mount McKinley): A Narrative of the First Complete Ascent of the Highest Peak in North America.

Stuck, Hudson. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1914.
  • 1913-18 US Private Journeys round the Coast and Interior of Alaska (Hudson Stuck, “Archbishop of the Yukon”).
  • Arctic Reading: United States
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Unfortunately, most of the readings recorded in Stuck’s first book have only to do with temperature readings, with a few minor exceptions, compared to the prodigious reading recorded in his other books.