p. 171: When I got back to camp Iversen has prepared a little feast. He has opened a new case of provisions in which we find two cigars, that Laub had packed away as a surprise for us. They are pretty badly damaged, but we fix them up somehow, and are soon enjoying the rare treat of a good smoke, together with the further delight of looking at the pictures in an old number of an illustrated paper that had been used to pack them in. The sheets are greasy and torn, but we put the pieces carefully together—here is reading matter for many days, even though we take a little foretaste of it now by glancing at the text here and there. There are bits of several stories, with neither beginning nor end, but that doesn’t matter—we make up the rest ourselves—a splendid way of passing the time, and an excellent subject for conversation on lying-up days.
Lost in the Arctic, Being the Story of the ‘Alabama’ Expedition, 1909-1912.
- 1909-12 Danish Expedition in Search of Mylius-Erichsen (aboard Alabama led by Ejnar Mikkelsen).
- Arctic Reading: Europe including Scandinavia
Tracing the Connected Narrative: Arctic Exploration in British Print Culture, 1818-1860.
- Arctic Reading: General
An important if a bit theoretical approach to telling the Arctic story in the earlier nineteenth century, and especially in their serial publication (as in Dickens e.g.). She compares Arctic exploration narratives, serially reported, with serialized fiction of the period. Main emphasis is on John Franklin, from his earlier land journeys to his disappearance in 1845, and the periodic discoveries of his fate.
Manuscripts and Archives Division, Library of Congress.
- Arctic Reading: United States
Henry [Harry] Clay, of the Howgate Preliminary Expedition on the Gulnare, was the grandson of the famous Henry Clay of Lexington, KY. Materials about him and by him are in Section II. Box 46, and probably elsewhere in the Library of Congress manuscript collections.
The Seaman’s Friend; Containing A Treatise on Practical Seamanship; A Dictionary of Sea Terms; Customs and Usages of the Merchant Service; Laws Relating to the Practical Duties of Master and Mariners.
- Arctic Reading: General
A comprehensive manual of most aspects of seamanship at the height of sail, and near the beginning of steam. There are a few rudimentary references to books and reading, rather surprisingly few for a man of Dana’s literary tastes.
The Wreck of the Maid of Athens, Being the Journal of Emily Wooldridge 1869-1870.
- Arctic Reading: General
The wreck occurred somewhere between Tierra del Fuego and Staten Island on the Lemaire Channel. This is the homespun story of a petticoat sailor, in dire straits, always devoted to her husband’s command.
Narrative of the North Polar Expedition, U. S. Ship Polaris.
- 1870-73 US North Pole Expedition of Charles Hall (aboard USS Polaris).
- Arctic Reading: United States
An Account of the Arctic Regions, with a History and Description of the Northern Whale-Fishery.
- Whalemen's Reading
A remarkable summary of the early history of Arctic exploration history to 1820, starting with Iceland in 861 (p. 62).
Lt. Aemilius Simpson’s Survey from York Factory to Fort Vancouver, 1826.
- 1826 British Overland Survey from Hudson Bay to Fort Vancouver.
- Hudson's Bay Company.
- Arctic Reading: Canada
Transcript of Simpson’s “Journal of a Voyage across the Continent of North America in 1826.”Although the journal gives no instances of specific reading there are references to Fraanklin’s Narrative of a Journey to the Shores of the Polar Sea(London, 1823) sufficient to infer that he had a copy with him on the journey.
Arctic Dreams: Imagination and Desire in a Northern Landscape.
- Arctic Reading: General
This is simply one of the best-written books of Arctic history and description: This is a land where airplanes track icebergs the size of Cleveland and polar bears fly down out of the stars. It is a region, like the desert, rich with metaphor, with adumbration. In a simple bow from the waist before the nest of the horned lark, you are able to stake your life, again, in what you dream. (Preface, p. xxix.)
Arctic Researches and Life among the Esquimaux: Being the Narrative of an Expedition in Search of Sir John Franklin, in the Years 1860, 1861, and 1862.
- 1848-59 The Franklin Search.
- Arctic Reading: Great Britain
p. xxvii: On the 29th of May [1860], accompanied by Mr. Grinnell and several citizens of New London… [I] entered the boat that was to convey me on board. A few strokes of the oars, however, had only been made, when we returned at the voice of Mr. Haven hailing us. It was to give me a present, in the shape of a little book called “The Daily Food,” which, though small in size, was great in its real value, and which proved my solace and good companion in many a solitary and weary hour.
The Gateways to the Pole,
- Arctic Reading: United States
An extended and approving study of Silas Bent’s theories of the open polar sea and thermal currents, saying that previous explorers have ignored the natural paths of warm currents & that Bent’s purpose is the humane one of saving lives in fruitless attempts on the North Pole.
High Arctic: The Story of the British North Greenland Expedition.
- 1952-54 British North Greenland Expedition (Commander James Simpson).
- Arctic Reading: Great Britain
Captain Banks was in the Royal Marines and was Officer-in-Charge of a Weasel team on this 1952-54 expedition.
The American Traveller: Or, Observations on the Present State, Culture and Commerce of the British Colonies in America.
- Hudson's Bay Company.
- Arctic Reading: Canada
Cluny wrote this after a year at HBC’s York Factory, attacking the Company for its monopoly and the suspicion they were hiding knowledge of the Northwest Passage.
Finding Franklin: The Untold Story of a 165-Year Search.
- 1848-59 The Franklin Search.
- Arctic Reading: Great Britain
p. 11: McClintock found one of these [Franklin whale]boats abandoned on the western shore of the island; in it were two skeletons along with an astonishing array of materials—silver forms and spoons, tea, chocolate, lead sheeting, carpet slippers, dozens of books (including bibles, prayer books, and a copy of The Vicar of Wakefield), and much other such bric-a-brac, which McClintock regarded as “a mere accumulation of dead weight” that would have made hauling the oak-and-iron sledge even more exhausting.
Arctic Adventure: My Life in the Frozen North
- Arctic Reading: Europe including Scandinavia
One of two or three autobiographies by Freuchen, this mainly of his life and adventures with Rasmussen during the Thule expeditions. A few things stand out: his total admiration for Robert Peary (of course for Rasmussen as well), his growing sensitivity to Inuit culture (thanks to his marriage with Navarana), and his lack of any literary pretentions. He scarcely mentions anything he does during his leisure time.