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This series includes accounts, by eye-witnesses and contemporaries, of early expeditions to the Arctic and the Antarctic. Huge resources were invested in such endeavours, particularly the search for the North-West Passage, which, if successful, promised enormous strategic and commercial rewards. Cartographers and scientists travelled with many of the expeditions, and their work made important contributions to earth sciences, climatology, botany and zoology. They also brought back anthropological information about the indigenous peoples of the Arctic region and the southern fringes of the American continent. The series further includes dramatic and poignant accounts of the harsh realities of working in extreme conditions and utter isolation in bygone centuries.

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202 results in Cambridge Library Collection - Polar Exploration

Page 4 of 11

In Northern Mists
  • Arctic Exploration in Early Times
  • Volume 2
  • Fridtjof Nansen
  • Translated by Arthur G. Chater
  • Published online:
    05 November 2014
    Print publication:
    17 April 2014
    First published in:
    1911
  • Accounts of the earliest exploration of the Arctic are scattered through many literatures. In writing this work, reissued here in the two-volume English translation of 1911, the celebrated Norwegian explorer Fridtjof Nansen (1861–1930) returned to many of the original sources. Calling on others to help him interpret texts in several languages, Nansen begins his account with the first mentions of the Arctic in Greek literature and ends with voyages of the sixteenth century. He notably questions some of the traditional history based on Norse sagas. Each volume contains lengthy quotations from little-known documents, making much valuable information accessible to non-specialists. Volume 2 continues from the discovery of North America through the explorations of the Inuit to the decline of the settlements in Greenland. Nansen describes early Norwegian explorations, considers the maps available to early explorers, and closes with the discoveries made by Cabot and the Portuguese.

The Franklin Expedition from First to Last
  • Richard King
  • Published online:
    05 November 2014
    Print publication:
    17 April 2014
    First published in:
    1855
  • Having participated in a rescue mission to aid John Ross in the Arctic in the 1830s, traveller and surgeon Richard King (1810/11–76) considered himself qualified to suggest where the missing expedition of Sir John Franklin, which had set off in 1845, could be found. In his letters to periodicals, government ministers and the Admiralty, published in this collection in 1855, King argues that the missing party would be located near the mouth of the Great Fish River. He volunteered to lead a search expedition, but was ignored. By 1859, remains of the Franklin party had been discovered near to where King said they would be. These letters tell the story of his campaign, throwing light on an interesting chapter in the history of polar exploration and the understanding of the Canadian Arctic. Several other works on Franklin's last expedition and the subsequent searches are also reissued in this series.

My Life as an Explorer
  • Roald Amundsen
  • Published online:
    05 November 2014
    Print publication:
    17 April 2014
    First published in:
    1927
  • Prior to his disappearance in the Arctic during an airborne rescue mission, the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen (1872–1928) had reflected in writing on his extraordinary career. First published in 1927 and reissued here in the English translation of that year, his autobiography discusses in straightforward style the numerous difficulties of his many expeditions, ranging from problems of finance and planning through to dealing with life-threatening danger and inevitable controversy. Generously acknowledging an 'old gentleman in Grimsby' for providing materials that helped him plan the first navigation of the North-West Passage, Amundsen credits painstaking preparation as the cornerstone of his success, especially in the conquest of the South Pole. His fuller accounts of these two expeditions are also reissued in the Cambridge Library Collection. Frank and focused like its author, the present work will reveal to readers the outlook and approach of a remarkable figure in the history of polar exploration.

Stray Leaves from an Arctic Journal
  • Or, Eighteen Months in the Polar Regions, in Search of Sir John Franklin's Expedition, in the Years 1850–51
  • Sherard Osborn
  • Published online:
    05 November 2014
    Print publication:
    17 April 2014
  • By the middle of the nineteenth century, the goal of the North-West Passage had claimed the lives of many explorers, yet the disappearance of the expedition led by Sir John Franklin occasioned the greatest response. Naval officer Sherard Osborn (1822–75) took part in the search mission of 1850–1 under Horatio Thomas Austin. Osborn was appointed to command the Pioneer, one of two steam tenders on the voyage. This was the first time such vessels had been deployed in the punishing conditions of the Arctic. Such was their success in cutting through ice and navigating the treacherous waters that similar models were later adopted by the whaling fleet. The present work, first published in 1852, gives a compelling account of the hardships of the expedition, which was successful in its surveying work and confirmed that Franklin had not been lost in Baffin Bay.

Through Siberia
  • Volume 2
  • Henry Lansdell
  • Published online:
    05 November 2014
    Print publication:
    17 April 2014
  • The Church of England clergyman Henry Lansdell (1841–1919) was an energetic traveller, both during his own leisure time and on behalf of the Irish Church Missions. He made many visits to Russia and central Asia, distributing bibles and tracts in the native languages of the many peoples he encountered, and focusing his attention especially on hospitals and prisons. He published this two-volume account in 1882, and it proved extremely popular (this second edition being prepared before the first was published), but attracted some criticism for its favourable treatment of the Russian government. The anarchist Prince Peter Kropotkin was especially indignant at the accounts of Russian prisons: he alleged that Lansdell was either a dupe of propaganda or was deliberately distorting what he had seen. Volume 2 continues Lansdell's account of his travels, both to prison colonies and mines, and among the native peoples of the Russian Far East.

Journal of a Voyage in Baffin's Bay and Barrow Straits in the Years 1850–1851
  • Performed by H.M. ShipsLady Franklin and Sophia Under the Command of Mr. William Penny in Search of the Missing Crews of H.M. ShipsErebus and Terror
  • Peter Cormack Sutherland
  • Published online:
    05 November 2014
    Print publication:
    20 March 2014
  • In the mid-nineteenth century, British Arctic exploration was focused on the search for the missing expedition of Sir John Franklin. Physician and geologist Peter Cormack Sutherland (1822–1900) served as surgeon on William Penny's 1850–1 search expedition, which was instructed to concentrate on Jones Sound, Wellington Channel and Barrow Strait in the Canadian Arctic. Sutherland's illustrated eyewitness account, first published in two volumes in 1852, tells of appalling weather conditions, notes the hazards of navigating icy seas, describes the wildlife and geology of the region, and offers observations on the Inuit. Sutherland also recounts the poignant discovery of Franklin's winter quarters at Beechey Island and the graves of several of his crew. Franklin's fate, however, was yet to be discovered. Volume 1 covers the journey from Aberdeen as far as Barrow Strait. Sutherland's records here the many perils of the Arctic winter.

Tales and Traditions of the Eskimo
  • With a Sketch of their Habits, Religion, Language and Other Peculiarities
  • Hinrich Rink
  • Edited by Robert Brown
  • Published online:
    05 November 2014
    Print publication:
    13 February 2014
    First published in:
    1875
  • The Danish geologist and geographer Hinrich Rink (1819–93) amassed decades of experience in exploring Greenland, becoming well versed in the language and customs of the Inuit. The present work is a condensed version of his investigations into indigenous culture, first published in two volumes in 1866 and 1871. Rink revised and translated the work from Danish into English for this 1875 publication, and the text was emended by the Scottish scientist and explorer Robert Brown (1842–95). In the book's first part, Rink describes succinctly the Inuit mode of life in Greenland. The second part, which is significantly longer, recounts the legends and folk tales that Rink had recorded on his travels. The book also includes a number of illustrations drawn and engraved by the Inuit people themselves. This work will appeal to those interested in the history of Inuit culture and nineteenth-century ethnography.

New Land
  • Four Years in the Arctic Regions
  • Volume 2
  • Otto Neumann Sverdrup
  • Translated by Ethel Harriet Hearn
  • Published online:
    05 November 2014
    Print publication:
    17 April 2014
    First published in:
    1904
  • This well-illustrated account of polar exploration was originally published in Norway in 1903, and in this two-volume English translation in 1904. It tells the story of the four years spent by Otto Sverdrup (1854–1930) and his crew in surveying and charting the seas and coastlines of the Arctic. Sverdrup had qualified as a ship's master when he first met Fridtjof Nansen, whose Greenland expedition of 1888 he accompanied. He advised on the construction of Nansen's wooden ship, the Fram, and became its master in 1895. Both with Nansen and under his own leadership, he undertook many expeditions. In June 1898, he took the Fram and a crew including several scientists to Ellesmere Island in the Canadian Arctic, where they overwintered for four years. Volume 2 describes the remainder of the expedition's time on the ice, and also the results of the various scientific surveys made by the crew.

Journal of a Voyage in Baffin's Bay and Barrow Straits in the Years 1850–1851
  • Performed by H.M. ShipsLady Franklin and Sophia Under the Command of Mr. William Penny in Search of the Missing Crews of H.M. ShipsErebus and Terror
  • Volume 2
  • Peter Cormack Sutherland
  • Published online:
    05 November 2014
    Print publication:
    20 March 2014
  • In the mid-nineteenth century, British Arctic exploration was focused on the search for the missing expedition of Sir John Franklin. Physician and geologist Peter Cormack Sutherland (1822–1900) served as surgeon on William Penny's 1850–1 search expedition, which was instructed to concentrate on Jones Sound, Wellington Channel and Barrow Strait in the Canadian Arctic. Sutherland's illustrated eyewitness account, first published in two volumes in 1852, tells of appalling weather conditions, notes the hazards of navigating icy seas, describes the wildlife and geology of the region, and offers observations on the Inuit. Sutherland also recounts the poignant discovery of Franklin's winter quarters at Beechey Island and the graves of several of his crew. Franklin's fate, however, was yet to be discovered. Volume 2 contains insightful details relating to sledging journeys and crew diet. The volume concludes with the return voyage to Britain.

A Whaling Cruise to Baffin's Bay and the Gulf of Boothia, and an Account of the Rescue of the Crew of the Polaris
  • Albert Hastings Markham
  • Introduction by Sherard Osborn
  • Published online:
    05 November 2014
    Print publication:
    17 April 2014
  • First published in 1874, this illustrated work by Albert Hastings Markham (1841–1918) recounts his experiences aboard the Dundee steam whaler Arctic. Markham also gives an account of the rescue of the crew of the American vessel Polaris, crushed by ice in 1872 during its attempt to reach the North Pole. The work is enhanced by details of meetings with Inuit, encounters with polar wildlife, oceanographic observations, and meteorological events. Appropriately, fellow naval officer and explorer Sherard Osborn (1822–75) wrote the introduction: he had a long interest in Arctic exploration, advocated the benefits of using steam ships in icy waters, and encouraged Markham to embark on the whaling cruise. The appendices include a 'list of birds shot', as well as data on botanical and geological specimens. Also reissued in this series are Markham's The Great Frozen Sea (1878), Northward Ho! (1879) and A Polar Reconnaissance (1881).

A Polar Reconnaissance
  • Being the Voyage of the Isbjörn to Novaya Zemlya in 1879
  • Albert Hastings Markham
  • Published online:
    05 November 2014
    Print publication:
    17 April 2014
  • Enhanced by several attractive engravings, this work, first published in 1881, illuminates Arctic exploration in the region of the Novaya Zemlya archipelago, north of the Russian mainland. Naval officer Albert Hastings Markham (1841–1918) summarises previous discoveries and voyages made in the region by various navigators from England, Russia, Norway and elsewhere. He goes on to give an account of his 1879 voyage aboard the Norwegian cutter Isbjörn, offering details of Arctic flora and fauna, topographical and oceanographic features, and navigational difficulties presented by ice. For those interested in the scientific aspects of the expedition, the appendices contain notes and lists, prepared by experts, drawing on the various botanical and zoological specimens that were collected. Also reissued in this series are Markham's A Whaling Cruise to Baffin's Bay (1874), The Great Frozen Sea (1878) and Northward Ho! (1879).

An Arctic Boat-Journey in the Autumn of 1854
  • Isaac I. Hayes
  • Introduction by H. Norton Shaw
  • Published online:
    05 November 2014
    Print publication:
    20 March 2014
    First published in:
    1860
  • After the expedition of Sir John Franklin went missing in the Arctic, a series of search missions were sent out in an attempt to discover its fate. Two of these were funded by, and named after, the American shipping magnate Henry Grinnell (1799–1874), the second of which was launched in 1853. With the brig Advance trapped in ice off the coast of northern Greenland, the expedition's surgeon Isaac Israel Hayes (1832–81) set out in August 1854 with a party of men towards Upernavik. This 1860 publication traces nearly four months spent struggling against horrendous Arctic conditions. Also reissued in the Cambridge Library Collection are The Open Polar Sea (1867) and The Land of Desolation (1871), Hayes's account of a more leisurely cruise along the coast of Greenland. Also available is Arctic Explorations (1856), a two-volume account of the second Grinnell expedition by its leader, Elisha Kent Kane (1820–57).

A Voyage to Hudson's-Bay by the Dobbs Galleyand Californiain the Years 1746 and 1747, for Discovering a North West Passage
  • With an Accurate Survey of the Coast, and Short Natural History of the Country
  • Henry Ellis
  • Published online:
    05 November 2014
    Print publication:
    17 April 2014
    First published in:
    1748
  • After running away to sea in 1741, Henry Ellis (1721–1806) joined a privately funded expedition with the purpose of discovering the North-West Passage, a possible trade route to the East Indies. While the expedition returned to England unsuccessful in 1747, having been thwarted by hazardous ice, Ellis believed that the route was still likely to exist. The party had travelled further north than any previous expedition, and Ellis's account, first published in 1748, generated great interest. The book includes a brief history of other attempts to find the passage, a map of Hudson Bay, several engravings of the fauna encountered, and observations of the natural history of the area. With his reputation increased by the book's publication, Ellis became a fellow of the Royal Society in 1749. He was later involved in the slave trade in Africa and colonial governance in North America.

In Northern Mists
  • Arctic Exploration in Early Times
  • Volume 1
  • Fridtjof Nansen
  • Translated by Arthur G. Chater
  • Published online:
    05 November 2014
    Print publication:
    17 April 2014
    First published in:
    1911
  • Accounts of the earliest exploration of the Arctic are scattered through many literatures. In writing this work, reissued here in the two-volume English translation of 1911, the celebrated Norwegian explorer Fridtjof Nansen (1861–1930) returned to many of the original sources. Calling on others to help him interpret texts in several languages, Nansen begins his account with the first mentions of the Arctic in Greek literature and ends with voyages of the sixteenth century. He notably questions some of the traditional history based on Norse sagas. Each volume contains lengthy quotations from little-known documents, making much valuable information accessible to non-specialists. Volume 1 begins in antiquity and, after presenting maps and legends of the Middle Ages, turns to the voyages of the Norsemen to Iceland and Greenland. The final part deals with the possible discovery of North America or Vinland.

The Land of the White Bear
  • Being a Short Account of the Pandora's Voyage during the Summer of 1875
  • Frederick George Innes-Lillingston
  • Published online:
    05 November 2014
    Print publication:
    20 March 2014
  • In June 1875, Frederick George Innes-Lillingston (1849–1904) set out for the Arctic aboard Pandora, a steam yacht captained by the seasoned polar explorer Allen Young (1827–1915). In this, the first of two voyages north, Young sought to make the north-west passage. His lieutenant Innes-Lillingston published this short account in 1876. It follows the voyage through to Peel Strait, where Young was forced to turn back in the face of heavy ice. On the journey home, the Pandora picked up the dispatches of the expedition under George Nares that was attempting to reach the North Pole. Conveying both the thrill and difficulty of the endeavour, this narrative provides a highly readable account of seafaring in extreme conditions. Also reissued in this series are two related works by Young: Cruise of the Pandora (1876) and The Two Voyages of the Pandora (1879).

A Summer Search for Sir John Franklin
  • With a Peep into the Polar Basin
  • E. A. Inglefield
  • Published online:
    05 November 2014
    Print publication:
    20 March 2014
    First published in:
    1853
  • First published in 1853, this work recounts an unsuccessful expedition to find the missing Franklin expedition. Following the disappearance of Sir John Franklin and his crew during a mission to find the North-West Passage, the Admiralty organised numerous searches for the missing men. The naval officer Edward Inglefield (1820–94) sailed to the Arctic in the summer of 1852 in command of the Isabel, a steamer donated by Lady Franklin on the condition that it was used to search for her husband. First published in 1853, Inglefield's account of the voyage is accompanied by a number of illustrations. The work also includes appendices listing the flowering plants and algae of the Arctic region as noted by the botanist George Dickie (1812–82), geographical and meteorological information collected by expedition surgeon Peter Sutherland (1822–1900), and Inglefield's correspondence with the Admiralty.

The Private Journal of Captain G. F. Lyon, of HMS Hecla
  • During the Recent Voyage of Discovery Under Captain Parry
  • George Francis Lyon
  • Published online:
    05 November 2014
    Print publication:
    17 April 2014
  • By 1820, the explorer William Parry had managed to traverse half of the North-West Passage. For his second attempt in 1821–3, he was accompanied by George Francis Lyon (1795–1832), who captained HMS Hecla. Parry and Lyon ultimately failed to get beyond Fury and Hecla Strait - named for the expedition's ships - because of heavy ice. This, together with the onset of scurvy, brought about their return to England. First published in 1824, Lyon's journal provides details of the region's natural history and its ice conditions as well as some of the most perceptive early commentary on the Inuit of Baffin Island and Melville Peninsula. Lyon struck up a rapport with these people, even allowing them to tattoo him. Living among the Inuit, Lyon observed their customs, their clothing, their diet, and their hunting activities. Several engravings of the author's sketches enhance the value of the work.

The Eventful Voyage of H.M. Discovery Ship Resolute to the Arctic Regions
  • In Search of Sir John Franklin and the Missing Crews of H.M. Discovery Ships Erebusand Terror
  • George Frederick McDougall
  • Published online:
    05 November 2014
    Print publication:
    20 March 2014
  • The Resolute was a merchant ship purchased by the Royal Navy for service in the search for the lost expedition of Sir John Franklin. Its first voyage to the Canadian Arctic, which took place between 1850 and 1851, proved fruitless, so a second, larger expedition was launched in 1852. Again the Resolute could find no trace of Franklin, and the crew came close to perishing themselves. With their ship trapped in ice, they endured the freezing temperatures and a harrowing trek to Beechey Island to survive. Published in 1857, the present work is the journal of George Frederick McDougall (c.1825–71), who served as master aboard the Resolute. The book features numerous woodcuts and plates, as well as an account of the ship's salvage by an American vessel. Notably, a desk made from the ship's timbers has been used by a number of American presidents in the White House.

The Possibility of Approaching the North Pole Asserted
  • Daines Barrington
  • Edited by Mark Beaufoy
  • Published online:
    05 November 2014
    Print publication:
    17 April 2014
    First published in:
    1818
  • Daines Barrington (1727/8–1800) and Mark Beaufoy (1764–1827) became fellows of the Royal Society in 1767 and 1790 respectively. Barrington's contributions to the Philosophical Transactions favoured natural history, but another of his passions was polar exploration and a potential sea route through the Arctic Ocean. Beaufoy, an astronomer and physicist, was notably involved in discerning changes in the earth's magnetic field. Reissued in its 1818 second edition, these papers discuss Arctic exploration and evidence for the theorised open polar sea. Barrington's tracts, originally dating from the 1770s, draw on the testimony of those navigators who had ventured into high latitudes. Though flawed, his hopes of explorers pushing through the pack ice retain considerable historical interest. A map of the North Pole and the surrounding region, so far as it was known, is included. The appendix contains Beaufoy's papers from 1817, including questions answered by Russians who wintered on Spitsbergen.

An Arctic Voyage to Baffin's Bay and Lancaster Sound
  • In Search of Friends with Sir John Franklin
  • Robert Anstruther Goodsir
  • Published online:
    05 November 2014
    Print publication:
    13 February 2014
    First published in:
    1850
  • In 1847, Sir John Franklin and his crew perished on their Arctic expedition. The following years saw multiple attempts to discover what happened to them. First published in 1850, this short account by Robert Anstruther Goodsir (1823–95) is based on the journal he kept while serving as surgeon during an 1849 mission in search of the missing explorers. Seeking to find his brother, Harry, who was assistant surgeon and naturalist on Franklin's expedition, Goodsir vividly describes the various dangers encountered, such as ice floes, icebergs, storms and shipwrecks. Moreover, he takes note of wildlife, notably birds and fish, and records interactions with Inuit. The perspective offered by a medical man, with a keen desire to raise awareness of ongoing rescue efforts, adds further interest to the narrative. Several other works relating to the expeditions in search of Sir John Franklin have also been reissued in this series.

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