p. xii: Meanwhile, The Times of October 10, 1843, reported the presence in Exeter of a rather unusual survival from Trafalgar. Mrs Sara Frank Pitt, the widow of a marine, had been on board Victory, and during the battle had been employed with other sailors’ wives in the customary duty of carrying powder up from the magazines to the guns. Hearing a false report of her husband’s death, she had rushed on deck to be reassured by his presence, but to see Nelson fall, mortally wounded. She subsequently buried a boy of hers at Alexandria and another near Sicily, and now in her old age, without child or husband, she I left totally destitute, without kin or associate, with no consolation but the recollection of the glorious bloody scenes in which she spent the early portion of her married life.’ Naturally enough, perhaps, Mrs Pitt was not anxious to join the procession of 200 Trafalgar veterans now being collected together for the unveiling ceremony [in Trafalgar Square], but she wished it to be known that if there should be ‘any distribution in largesse in commemoration of the victory’ she would ‘be thankful to receive a portion’.
Nelson.
- Arctic Reading: Great Britain
A Journal of Voyages & Travels in the Interior of North America, Between the 47th and 58th Degrees of Latitude…
- Hudson's Bay Company.
- Arctic Reading: Canada
A very long sojourn (1803-1818 or so), by a Christian fundamentalist troubled by sin but trusting in God. Had a common law native wife who is not discussed very much until he finally marries and in reference to children. Tells harrowing tales of native drinking and its consequences, despite the fact that he provided liquor to them. On the death of his son, see p. 238-39.
With the ‘Aurora’ in the Antarctic 1911-1914.
- 1910-14 British National Antarctic Expedition (Scott on Terra Nova).
- Antarctic Reading: Expeditions
First published in 1919. One of three books based on Davis’s journals, this one of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition is primarily about navigation and seamanship, and very little about other human activities or amusements for diversion. The concluding paragraphs of his “L’Avenir” have the most human touch:
Life Aboard: The Journals of William N. and George F. Smith.
- Arctic Reading: Canada
Diaries of typical 19th-century voyages by New Brunswick ships to all over the world, usually carrying timber. Nothing polar about it (mostly St John to Liverpool), but an interesting example of a seaman’s journals.
Foothold on Antarctica: The First International Expedition (1949-1952) through the Eyes of its Youngest Member.
- 1949-52 Norwegian–British–Swedish Antarctic Expedition (NBSX or NBSAE) based at Maudheim.
- Antarctic Reading: Expeditions
Swithinbank was a member of this largely Norwegian expedition. He’s not a natural writer but the story has its share of adventure and danger which he reports in a rather dry style. He gives some information about reading among his colleagues but nothing on what he himself read.
Wooden Ships and Iron Men: The Story of the Square-Rigged Merchant Marine of British North America, the Ships, Their Builders and Owners, and the Men Who Sailed Them.
- Arctic Reading: Canada
Largely an encomium to the British men and ships operating in what is now known as Canada, with emphasis on the maritime provinces. There is a great deal of information about the building and history of Canadian, particularly those of Nova Scotia, but nothing I could find on the provision of reading matter. Probably the officers and men were too busy setting speed records.
Life in a Man-of-War, or Scenes in “Old Ironsides” during her Cruise in the Pacific
- Whalemen's Reading
p. 3, Preface:
A Selection of Papers on Arctic Geography and Ethnology/ Reprinted, and Presented to The Arctic Expedition of 1875….
- 1875-76 British Naval Expedition in Search of North Pole (Captain George Nares aboard Alert and Discovery).
- Arctic Reading: Great Britain
Prior to the 1875 British Arctic Expedition to Greenland led by Nares, the RGS reissued articles published in its own Journal and Proceedings "for the use of the expedition". (Preface). Contents include: (1). On the Physical Structure of Greenland, by Robert Brown. (2). On the Best Means of Reaching the Pole, by Admiral Baron Von Wrangell. (3). On the Discoveries of Dr. Kane, U.S.A. (1853-55). by Dr. Rink. (4). The Arctic Current around Greenland, by Admiral C. Irminger. (5). Notes on the State of the Ice, and on the Indications of Open Water from Behring Strait to Bellot Strait, along the Coasts of the Arctic America and Siberia, including the Accounts of Anjou and Wrangell. by Vice-Admiral R. Collinson. - Ethnology - (1). Papers on the Greenland Eskimos. by Clements R. Markham. (2). On the Descent of the Eskimo. By Dr. Rink. (3). The Western Eskimo. by Dr. Simpson. (4). Report on the Anthropological Institute. Questions for Arctic Explorers.
Polar Castaways: The Ross Sea Party (1914-17) of Sir Ernest Shackleton.
- 1914-16 Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition (Shackleton on Endurance).
- Antarctic Reading: Expeditions
An earnest and thorough review of Shackleton’s Ross Sea relief party that successfully planted supply depots for Shackleton, though he never reached or needed them.
Crevasse Roulette: The First Trans-Antarctic Crossing 1957-58.
- 1955-58 TAE: Trans-Antarctic Expedition (Fuchs and Hillary).
- Antarctic Reading: Expeditions
Arctic Searching Expedition: A Journal of a Boat-Voyage through Rupert’s Land and the Arctic Sea, in Search of the Discovery Ships under Command of Sir John Franklin.
- Arctic Reading: Great Britain
Volume I: p. 49-50: the equipment which Richardson and John Rae landed in New York on April 10, 1848 included astronomical and meteorological instruments and: An ample supply of paper for botanical purposes, a quantity of paper, a small selection of books, a medicine chest, a canteen, a compendious cooking apparatus, and a few tines of pemican, completed our baggage, which weighed in the aggregate, above 4000 pounds.
Voyages from Asia to America, for Completing the Discoveries of the North West Coast of America. To which is Prefixed, A Summary of the Voyages Made by the Russians on the Frozen Sea, in Search of a North East Passage.
- Arctic Reading: Russia
Longitude and Empire: How Captain Cook’s Voyages Changed the World.
- 1768–79 British Naval Expeditions of Captain James Cook.
- Antarctic Reading: Expeditions
In a daring, almost reckless shift, Richardson moves the discussion of what Cook may have read to who may have read Cook’s voyages and how the reading of Cook’s voyages changed the Western view of the world. Cites library statistics from late 18th-century Bristol to show Hawkesworth the most circulated book, with its description of Cook’s first voyage, as the most circulated book in the decade of 1773-1784. By its very organization, he sees the library as a statement about the world and the places in it. As Captain Cook had authority over his ships just as his printed voyages took on the authority of the printed word. He thus sees Cook as an important point of origin for empire as a collection of places as well as a sovereign authority over them (p. 200).
A Voyage Around the World 1826-1829.
- 1826-29 Russian Exploring Expedition (aboard Veniamin).
- Maritime Reading
Trip on Seniavin, a Russian ship, to survey coasts of Kamchatka, the Okhotsk Sea, and the Shanter Islands. Traveled from Kronstadt to Portsmouth, Rio, Cape Horn, Valparaiso, Sitka, & Kamchatka. Stopped in Sitka to observe the Russian colonies there under the Russian-American Company in New Archangel. Baron Wrangell was governor and the fort itself had been rebuilt after being destroyed by the Americans:
The Strange and Dangerovs Voyage of Captaine Thomas Iames, in His Intended Discovery of the Northwest Passage into the South Sea….
- 1631-32 British Search Voyage for North West Passage (Captains Luke Foxe and Thomas James of Bristol).
- Arctic Reading: Great Britain
p. 606, in a list of instruments provided for his voyage are a number of books: A Chest full of the best and choicest Mathematicall bookes that could be got for money in England; as likewise Master Hackluite and Master Purchase, and other books of Journals and Histories.