Ending in Ice: the Revolutionary Idea and Tragic Expedition of Alfred Wegener.

McCoy, Roger M. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006.
  • Arctic Reading: Europe including Scandinavia
 Preview 

Alfred Wegener is most famous for his proposed theory of continental draft, published in 1912. At first denied and scorned, then dismissed as unimportant, followed by eventual acceptance. His other fame relates to his several research expeditions seeking to understand the climatic influence of Greenland weather. He died on the ice trying to rescue his scientific colleagues isolated at Eismitte in 1930. Unlike so many explorers he was dedicated to his scientific endeavors.

Antarctic Adventure: Scott’s Northern Party.

Priestley, Raymond E. London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1914. [A new edition, with a New Foreword by Sir Vivian Fuchs, was published in London: C. Hurst & co., 1974.].
  • 1910-14 British National Antarctic Expedition (Scott on Terra Nova).
  • Antarctic Reading: Expeditions
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The northern party under V. L. A. Campbell, was forced to winter in the Antarctic when the Terra Nova failed to pick them up. They survived despite being without winter clothing and they eventually crossed 230 miles of sea ice to Cape Evans. Spence 939. Conrad 186: This is gripping reading. The first edition is unfortunately rare, as many copies were destroyed during a fire. [ABEBOOKS]

Voyages Round the World; with Selected Sketches of Voyages to the South Seas, North and South Pacific Oceans, China, Etc.,.. between the Years 1792 and 1832.

Fanning, Edmund. New York: Collins & Hannay, 1833. [A later edition is Salem, MA: Marine Research Society, 1924.].
  • 1792-32 American Sealing Voyage (Captain Edmund Fanning).
  • Antarctic Reading: Expeditions
 Preview 

Fanning from Stonington was the first known American to reach sub-polar Antarctica on various sealing expeditions, including the Falklands, Shetlands, and South Georgia and at least as far as 58°S. One of the later chapters describes Nathaniel Palmer’s meeting with Alexander I’s Russian ships in 1820-21 who learned from Palmer “of the existence of an immense extent of land to the south, whose mountains might be seen from the mast-head when the fog should clear away entirely” (p. 308). This rather charming book, first published in 1833, while covering several voyages in which Fanning was involved, chiefly as captain, betrays little of any books on board or any reading by him or his sailors other than the obligatory directional books and charts, for which here is one example.

The Last Gentleman Adventurer: Coming of Age in the Arctic.

Maurice, Edward Beauclerk. Foreword by Lawrence Millman. (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2005.
  • Hudson's Bay Company.
  • Arctic Reading: Canada
 Preview 

Delightful book about an HBC agent who at 20 was assigned alone to Pangnirtung and Frobisher Bay where he successfully assimilated to Inuit culture.

A Man-of-War Library

Melville, Herman. White-Jacket, or The world in a Man-of-War. (New York: Library of America, 1983) p. 522-24:.
  • Maritime Reading
 Preview 

Chapter 41 A Man-of-War Library

Son of the North.

Roberts, Osseannah. Boston, MA: C. M. Clark Publishing Co., 1908.
  • Arctic Reading: Canada
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A fictional romance of North Canada about immigrants from Scotland, with a few reports of reading incorporated into the novel.

Scott of the Antarctic.

Huxley, Elspeth. New York, Atheneum, 1978.
  • Heroic Age 1901-1921.
  • Antarctic Reading: Expeditions
 Preview 

p. 14: It is perhaps significant that among the few possessions he was to pack for his first southern journey—possessions so carefully rationed for weight that he had to choose between a pair of socks and their equivalent weight in tobacco—Darwin’s Origin of Species was the book that went into his kit.

The World Cruise of the Great White Fleet: Honoring 100 Years of Global Partnerships and Security.

Crawford, Michael J. Washington, DC: Naval Historical Center, 2008.
  • 1907-09 US Circumnavigation by the Great White Fleet.
  • Arctic Reading: United States
 Preview 

Wonderfully illustrated volume, with the sixteen white battleships with gold trimmed bows, shown in formation. Not much about conditions aboard ship or amusements for the crew. Here is an example of the patriotic intent of the trip:

The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket….

Poe, Edgar Allan. New York: Library of America, 1984. p. 1003-1182.
  • Whalemen's Reading
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Fictional account of mutiny on Grampus, June 1827, followed by rescue by a whaler which sailed nearly to the South Pole. Very little about books, but the cabin of Pym’s friend Augustus contained “a table, a chair, and a set of hanging shelves full of books, chiefly books of voyages and travels” (p. 1021). When Pym, a stowaway, was first hidden before departure he describes his hideaway on p. 1024: “I now looked over the books which had been so thoughtfully provided, and selected the expedition of Lewis and Clarke to the mouth of the Columbia. With this I amused myself for some time, when growing sleepy, I extinguished the light with great care, and soon fell into a sound slumber.” That seems to be the last mention of books in this exciting and inventive tale.

Trial by Ice: The Antarctic Journals.

Davis, John King. Edited by Louise Crossley. Bluntisham, UK: Bluntisham Books, 19.
  • 1929-31 BANZARE Expedition (aboard Discovery II).
  • Antarctic Reading: Expeditions
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This is one of three volumes based on the Davis journals, and some of the Davis journals printed here also appear in his earlier autobiographical work, High Latitude. Davis was the complete sea master, but not an explorer. For the most part his journal entries, written while in command, tend to be short simply because he is very busy, and appears to have no time for reading except as it might be work related. What stands out in this volume is the section on the MawsonDavis BANZARE expedition of 1929-30 where Davis constantly laments the problems of divided command, where Mawson constantly asks Davis to take risks which, according to Davis, Mawson would not take responsibility for if things went wrong. Mawson on the other hand found Davis far too conservative and timid in his concern for the safety of ship and men. Davis may be a somewhat dull and conservative character, but he does come across as the more sympathetic, at least in his own account.

Among the Magi

Sponholz, Martin. https://www.antarctican.org/memoirs-diaries?rq=sponholz.
  • Antarctic Reading: Expeditions
 Preview 

This memoir by Society member Martin Sponholz recounts his experiences at Plateau Station and the Japanese Showa Station in the 1960's. It has never been published, but has appeared on other websites in the past. We thought it deserved a home with the Antarctican Society, with Marty's permission.

On Floating Ice: Two Years on Antarctic Ice-Shelf South of 75°S.

MacDowall, Joseph. Edinburgh: Pentland Press, 1999.
  • 1955-59 Royal Society IGY Antarctic Expedition.
  • Antarctic Reading: Expeditions
 Preview 

For one year MacDowall was the leader of this expedition and base at Halley Bay in the Weddell Sea, one of Britain’s contributions to IGY. It is quite a prosaic account, with little drama, but notable for its citations to the base newspaper, the Halley Comet.