Report of Winfield S. Schley, Commander, U.S. Navy, commanding Greely relief expedition of 1884

With its extremely detailed accounting of the provisioning of this expedition, the report lists books ordered for the journey on March 1, 1884, for each of the three ships (Alert, Thetis, and Bear) as follows:

p.10:

Nautical Almanacs, 1884 and 1885 (two for each year)
Bowditch’s Practical Navigator
Arctic Azimuth Tables
Rosser’s Book of Stars
Finding Compass Error
Longitude by Chronometer, Sunrise and Sunset
Binnacles and Swinging Ship
Instructions for Hydrographic Surveyors (for “Alert” only)
Table Mast-Head Angles
Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea
Weather Guide, Baromete, Thermometer, and Hygrometer
North Atlantic Sailing Directions
North Atlantic Light List
List of Foreign Lights
Set Hydrographic Office and British Admiralty North Atlantic and Arctic Charts
Sailing Directions, Davis’ Straits, Baffin’s Bay and Smith Sound
Newfoundland Pilot
Bible
Prayer Book
Navy Regulations
Articles for the Government of the Navy
Webster’s Dictionary
International Signal Code
Meyer’s Army Signal Code

No recreational reading is listed, though supplies included checkers, packs cards, dice-boxes, sets chess men, checker-boards, and dice. Considerable supplies of stationery were also ordered for the trip. In addition there may have been ASFS libraries provided to the ship. (Look up at Mystic: departure dates from Brooklyn were April 24 for the Bear, Thetis on May 1, and Alert some time in that period.)