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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 8 of 11

Narrative of the North Polar Expedition
  • U.S. Ship Polaris, Captain Charles Francis Hall Commanding
  • Edited by Charles Henry Davis
  • Published online:
    05 May 2013
    Print publication:
    28 June 2012
    First published in:
    1876
  • Charles Hall (1821–71) was neither seaman nor navigator, but by 1871 he had made two Arctic expeditions as a result of his fascination with the failed expedition of Franklin. With a grant from Congress, his Polaris voyage aimed to be the first US expedition to the North Pole. Desertion, drunkenness, and disagreements beset the venture from the start, and by the time Hall reached the furthest northern point yet attained by an Arctic explorer, crew discipline had broken down completely. Using official papers and crew journals, this 1876 work by C. H. Davis for the US Navy recounts Hall's sudden death (after accusing his crew of poisoning him), the failed attempt to reach the Pole, and the abandonment of half the crew left drifting for 2500 kilometres on an ice floe. With the mystery of Hall's death and the story of the crew's survival, this is an epic tale of human endurance.

Franklin's Footsteps
  • A Sketch of Greenland, along the Shores of which his Expedition Passed, and of the Parry Isles, Where the Last Traces of it Were Found
  • Clements R. Markham
  • Published online:
    05 May 2013
    Print publication:
    07 June 2012
    First published in:
    1853
  • Clement Robert Markham (1830–1916) was a geographer who took part in one of the many Arctic expeditions launched to search for missing explorer John Franklin (1786–1847). This account, published in 1853, was written in response to criticism of the expedition. They had found some evidence of Franklin's route - he had set off in May 1845 to find the North-West Passage - but returned to Britain without any of the survivors. Markham gives a brief history of Arctic exploration, but the majority of the book recounts the expedition's efforts to find Franklin. The crew endured a harsh winter and sailed in iceberg-laden waters along the coast of Greenland, looking for clues of Franklin's whereabouts. They also spent some time exploring the Parry Islands (the present-day Queen Elizabeth Islands). Markham's account of the rescue mission provides insight into the little-known and often dangerous world of Arctic explorers.

Cruise of the Pandora
  • From the Private Journal Kept by Allen Young, R.N.R., F.R.G.S., F.R.A.S., etc., Commander of the Expedition
  • Allen Young
  • Published online:
    05 May 2013
    Print publication:
    28 June 2012
    First published in:
    1876
  • Sir Allen Young (1827–1915), merchant navy officer and experienced Polar explorer, took part in several expeditions before that of the Pandora. As navigator he had accompanied the McClintock expedition to discover the fate of Sir John Franklin, during which he explored several hundred miles of new coastline by sledge. He was also in command of the Fox on the 1860 North Atlantic telegraph expedition to assess the practicality of a cable route between Europe and America across the Faroes, Iceland and Greenland. In 1875, he led, and financed, the British North-West Passage Expedition on the Pandora, and this compelling account of his journey was first published in 1876. In it, he records his attempt to reach the magnetic pole via Baffin Bay and Lancaster Sound, and to navigate the North-West Passage in one season, though he failed in this attempt because of heavy ice in the Franklin Strait.

Narrative of the Voyage of HMS Herald during the Years 1845–51 under the Command of Captain Henry Kellett, R.N., C.B.
  • Being a Circumnavigation of the Globe and Three Cruizes to the Arctic Regions in Search of Sir John Franklin
  • Volume 2
  • Berthold Seemann
  • Published online:
    05 May 2013
    Print publication:
    12 July 2012
    First published in:
    1853
  • Berthold Seemann (1825–71), a German-born botanist and traveller, published several scientific books and articles. He also composed music and in the 1860s he wrote three plays which enjoyed some success in Germany. In 1846 Seemann was appointed naturalist to the British ship HMS Herald, which was engaged in a hydrographical survey of the Pacific. In this two-volume work, published in 1853, the author recounts how he joined the Herald in Panama in 1847 and remained on board until 1851. The ship explored almost all of the West Coast of America and also sailed north into the Arctic seas. In Volume 2, the Herald is ordered to the Bering Strait to search for the Arctic explorer John Franklin. New islands are discovered and Seemann collects anthropological data related to the Inuit. The Herald also visits the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii) several times, and eventually returns home via the Ascension Island.

Voyage dans les Mers du Nord à bord de la corvette La Reine Hortense
  • Karol Edmund Choiecki
  • Published online:
    05 May 2013
    Print publication:
    07 June 2012
    First published in:
    1857
  • In 1856, Prince Napoléon, the French Emperor's cousin, carried out a four-month expedition in the North Sea. He was accompanied by a scientific committee as well as a group of painters, photographers and writers. Among the participants was Polish novelist, playwright, poet and journalist Karol Edmund Choiecki (1822–99). In 1844, he had fled Russian persecution in Poland, having been in jeopardy due to his activism and patriotic writings. He found refuge in France and befriended such members of the intellectual elite as Gustave Flaubert and George Sand. In 1857, Choiecki published a beautifully illustrated account of the expedition, in which he shares his views on navigation and exploration as he goes via Scotland, Iceland, Norway's Jan Mayen Island, Greenland, the Faroe and Shetland Islands, and Scandinavia. Choiecki paints a lyrical picture of the journey, offering a welcome contrast and addition to the scientific accounts of his day.

Narrative of a Second Voyage in Search of a North-West Passage
  • And of a Residence in the Arctic Regions during the Years 1829–33
  • Volume 1
  • John Ross
  • Published online:
    05 May 2013
    Print publication:
    17 May 2012
    First published in:
    1835
  • Polar explorer John Ross (1777–1856) sailed with William Edward Parry in 1818 to seek a North-West Passage from Baffin Bay. The attempt was unsuccessful, and Ross was widely blamed for its failure. In 1829 he set out on a privately funded expedition on the steamship Victory, accompanied by his nephew James Clark Ross, to try again, returning to England in late 1833. Using survival techniques learnt from the Inuit he befriended, Ross kept his crew healthy through four icebound winters. While the voyage once again failed to find a North-West Passage, it surveyed the Boothia Peninsula and a large part of King William Land. It was also valuable for its scientific findings, with J. C. Ross discovering the magnetic north pole. Ross published this two-volume work in 1835. Volume 1 summarises previous Polar exploration before describing the voyage in great detail, from preparations to the return in 1833.

Fur-Clad Adventurers
  • Or, Travels in Skin-Canoes, on Dog-Sledges, on Reindeer, and on Snow-Shoes, through Alaska, Kamchatka, and Eastern Siberia
  • Zacariah Atwell Mudge
  • Published online:
    05 May 2013
    Print publication:
    14 June 2012
    First published in:
    1880
  • Z. A. Mudge (1813–88) was an American pastor, author and Arctic exploration enthusiast. After the success of his popular books North Pole Voyages and Arctic Heroes, he wrote this book on the Western Union Telegraph Expedition. In the mid-nineteenth century the Western Union Telegraph Company decided to create a telegraph line that would run from San Francisco, California to Moscow, Russia. The line was to run through Alaska and Siberia, and although the project was abandoned in 1867, a large amount of Arctic exploration had been achieved in the meantime. This book, first published in 1880, is Mudge's compilation of the accounts of some of the explorers who were involved in different stages of the expedition, including the naturalist W. H. Dall during his exploration in Alaska. Mudge goes on to include the Siberian experiences of George Kennan and W. H. Bush (whose own account is also reissued in this series).

From Edinburgh to the Antarctic
  • An Artist's Notes and Sketches during the Dundee Antarctic Expedition of 1892–93
  • William Gordon Burn Murdoch
  • With contributions by W. S. Bruce
  • Published online:
    05 April 2013
    Print publication:
    26 April 2012
    First published in:
    1894
  • Scottish artist W. G. Burn Murdoch (1862–1939) joined a whaling expedition to Antarctica that left Dundee in 1892. He was on board the barque Balaena, the largest of the ships in the group, and under the command of Captain Fairweather. They were searching for the valuable Bowhead whale, which had been sighted on Ross' 1839–43 Antarctic expedition. Although unsuccessful at achieving this aim, the ships returned in 1893 loaded with seal pelts. First published in 1894, this is Murdoch's account of the expedition, illustrated throughout with his sketches. He documents each stage of the voyage, and describes living conditions on the Balaena. His illustrations include scenes such as the Ship's departure and ice landscapes, as well as focusing on the daily work of the crew. The Ship's naturalist, William S. Bruce (1867–1921), wrote the final chapter, focusing on the scientific observations he made during the voyage.

Northward over the Great Ice
  • A Narrative of Life and Work along the Shores and upon the Interior Ice-Cap of Northern Greenland in the Years 1886 and 1891–1897 etc.
  • Volume 1
  • Robert E. Peary
  • Published online:
    05 April 2013
    Print publication:
    19 January 2012
    First published in:
    1898
  • Robert Edwin Peary (1856–1920), the distinguished American Arctic explorer, is usually credited as the first person to have reached the geographic North Pole, in 1909. First published in 1898, this two-volume work recounts Peary's expeditions across the interior ice-cap of Northern Greenland in the years 1886 and 1891–7. It describes Peary's contacts with the local Inuit tribes and the valuable scientific discoveries he made in geography, and natural history. Peary also documents the discovery and conveyance to the United States of the Cape York meteorites, from which the Inuit had extracted iron, but whose whereabouts had been a secret. In Volume 1, Peary recounts his first two expeditions in Greenland. On the first, in 1886, he travelled over the Greenland ice sheet for 100 miles. On the second, in 1891–2, he and seven companions (including his wife) sledged 1300 miles to North-East Greenland.

Northward Over the Great Ice
  • A Narrative of Life and work Along the Shores and upon the Interior Ice-Cap of Northern Greenland in the Years 1886 and 1891–1897, etc
  • Volume 2
  • Robert E. Peary
  • Published online:
    05 April 2013
    Print publication:
    19 January 2012
    First published in:
    1898
  • Robert Edwin Peary (1856–1920), the distinguished American Arctic explorer, is usually credited as the first person to have reached the geographic North Pole, in 1909. First published in 1898, this two-volume work recounts Peary's expeditions across the interior ice-cap of Northern Greenland in the years 1886 and 1891–7. It describes Peary's contacts with the local Inuit tribes and the valuable scientific discoveries he made in geography, and natural history. Peary also documents the discovery and conveyance to the United States of the Cape York meteorites, from which the Inuit had extracted iron, but whose whereabouts had been a secret. Volume 2 recounts Peary's later expeditions in Greenland, including a 25-month stay in which he first attempted to reach the North Pole. Peary's wife, Josephine, who accompanied him on many of his expeditions, gave birth to their daughter less than 900 miles from the Pole in 1893.

Vitus Bering: The Discoverer of Bering Strait
  • Peter Lauridsen
  • Translated by Julius E. Olson
  • Published online:
    05 February 2013
    Print publication:
    22 December 2011
    First published in:
    1889
  • Vitus Bering (1681–1741) was a Danish-born Russian navigator. He enlisted in the Russian navy and fought during the Great Northern War (1700–21) against the Swedish Empire. In 1725 he received a commission from Peter the Great to discover whether there was a land bridge between Russia and America. He sailed through what would later be called the Bering Strait, but was unable to reach America on this first attempt. He succeeded on his next voyage, later named the Great Northern Expedition, and set about mapping significant sections of North American coastline. He also charted the Arctic coast of Siberia, 'discovered' Japan from the North and became the first European to explore Alaska. Published in English translation for the American market in 1889, this sympathetic biography by the historian and geographer Peter Lauridsen (1846–1923) had originally appeared in Danish in 1885. It includes extensive notes and an index.

The Life of William Scoresby
  • R. E. Scoresby-Jackson
  • Published online:
    05 February 2013
    Print publication:
    29 December 2011
    First published in:
    1861
  • Robert Scoresby-Jackson (1833–67), physician and geographer, was the grandson of Arctic explorer and whaler William Scoresby senior, and nephew to Arctic explorer, scientist, clergyman and social reformer William Scoresby junior (1789–1857). First published in 1861, this biography recounts the many years the younger Scoresby spent exploring the northern seas, and his life after his trips to the Arctic ceased. Scoresby entered the Anglican church in 1822, and went on to work in several parishes across England. The book also describes Scoresby's personal tragedies, his efforts towards social reform, and his important research on magnetism, on which he worked for much of his adult life. The appendix includes a list of his publications, the honours bestowed on him, and an extract from his will bequeathing some of his most valued instruments to the public museum at Whitby, the home port for his and his father's early whaling expeditions.

Journal of HMS Enterprise, on the Expedition in Search of Sir John Franklin's Ships by Behring Strait, 1850–55
  • Richard Collinson
  • Edited by T. B. Collinson
  • Published online:
    05 February 2013
    Print publication:
    19 January 2012
    First published in:
    1889
  • Published posthumously in 1889, this journal records the 1850–5 expedition undertaken by naval officer and navigator Sir Richard Collinson (1811–83) to attempt to discover the fate of Sir John Franklin's expedition by entering the hypothetical North-West Passage from the 'other side', via Bering Strait. Franklin, the famous Polar explorer, disappeared on an expedition to discover the Passage in 1845, and no fewer than thirty attempts were made between 1847 and 1859 to investigate what had happened to his 129-strong party. Collinson set out in command of HMS Enterprise in 1850, and his ship, which passed three successive winters in the Arctic, came closest to the place where Franklin's expedition was believed to have ended. Collinson was awarded a Gold Medal by the Royal Geographical Society in 1858 for making a significant contribution to the geographical knowledge of the area, and he was knighted in 1875.

A Journal of Transactions and Events during a Residence of Nearly Sixteen Years on the Coast of Labrador
  • Volume 1
  • George Cartwright
  • Published online:
    05 February 2013
    Print publication:
    26 January 2012
    First published in:
    1792
  • George Cartwright (1739–1819) was a soldier, trader and explorer who spent sixteen years travelling and working in Labrador in northern Canada. In 1754, he entered the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich in London before taking up a commission in the Indian army. In 1760, he served in the Seven Years' War, returning to England with the rank of Captain. After his army career, he turned to exploration and set himself up as a trader along the Labrador coast of Canada, making six expeditions from 1770–86 between Cape St Charles and Hamilton Inlet. Published in 1792, this is the first book in a three-volume work that recounts the author's adventures along the Labrador coast, vividly portraying the land and the culture of the indigenous peoples. It covers Cartwright's first two expeditions (1770–3), and opens with a short autobiography. Each volume also includes a glossary of unusual terms.

A Journal of Transactions and Events during a Residence of Nearly Sixteen Years on the Coast of Labrador
  • Volume 3
  • George Cartwright
  • Published online:
    05 February 2013
    Print publication:
    26 January 2012
    First published in:
    1792
  • George Cartwright (1739–1819) was a soldier, trader and explorer who spent sixteen years travelling and working in Labrador in northern Canada. In 1754, he entered the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich in London before taking up a commission in the Indian army. In 1760, he served in the Seven Years' War, returning to England with the rank of Captain. After his army career, he turned to exploration and set himself up as a trader along the Labrador coast of Canada, making six expeditions from 1770–86 between Cape St Charles and Hamilton Inlet. Published in 1792, this is the last book of a three-volume work that recounts the author's adventures along the Labrador coast, vividly portraying the land and the culture of the indigenous peoples. This volume covers Cartwright's fifth and sixth expeditions (1783–6). Each volume also includes a glossary of unusual terms.

Narrative of a Second Expedition to the Shores of the Polar Sea, in the Years 1825, 1826, and 1827
  • John Franklin, John Richardson
  • Published online:
    05 February 2013
    Print publication:
    26 January 2012
    First published in:
    1828
  • Sir John Franklin (1786–1847) joined the Navy at the age of fourteen and saw action at Copenhagen and Trafalgar. Between those battles, he circumnavigated Australia with his uncle, Matthew Flinders; he became famous after his first major expedition to northern Canada in 1819–22, although it resulted in the deaths of over half of his men. Accounts of both of these voyages are also reissued in this series. Franklin returned to the Arctic in 1825, and this, his second book, describes that more successful endeavour. Published in 1828, it records the expedition's planning, route, scientific observations, and the mapping of over 1200 miles of Canada's northern coastline. The party included two artists, and their work is reproduced in over thirty engravings. Franklin was later posted to the Mediterranean and Tasmania, but in 1845 embarked on his disastrous third expedition to the North-West Passage, during which he and his entire crew were lost.

A Chronological History of North-Eastern Voyages of Discovery
  • And of the Early Eastern Navigations of the Russians
  • James Burney
  • Published online:
    05 February 2013
    Print publication:
    16 February 2012
    First published in:
    1819
  • Rear-Admiral James Burney (1750–1821), brother of the novelist Fanny Burney and son of the musicologist Dr Charles Burney, is best known for his five-volume compilation of voyages in the Pacific Ocean (also reissued in this series). He began his maritime career at the age of ten, as a captain's servant. Five years later he became a naval officer, and from 1772 to 1780 served on Cook's second and third voyages to the South Seas. Following his forced retirement in 1784, he turned to his second career as an author. Published in 1819, this work summarises nine hundred years of exploration of the coastline from Northern Europe to North-East Asia, from the Norse chieftain Ochter's voyage around the North Cape in 890 CE to Captain Billings' 1790 expedition to the Aleutian Islands. He concludes with a detailed discussion of the search for a passage between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

A Journal of Transactions and Events during a Residence of Nearly Sixteen Years on the Coast of Labrador
  • Volume 2
  • George Cartwright
  • Published online:
    05 February 2013
    Print publication:
    26 January 2012
    First published in:
    1792
  • George Cartwright (1739–1819) was a soldier, trader and explorer who spent sixteen years travelling and working in Labrador in northern Canada. In 1754, he entered the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich in London before taking up a commission in the Indian army. In 1760, he served in the Seven Years' War, returning to England with the rank of Captain. After his army career, he turned to exploration and set himself up as a trader along the Labrador coast of Canada, making six expeditions from 1770–86 between Cape St Charles and Hamilton Inlet. Published in 1792, this is the second book in a three-volume work that recounts the author's adventures along the Labrador coast, vividly portraying the land and the culture of the indigenous peoples. This volume covers Cartwright's third and fourth expeditions, between 1773 and 1779. Each volume also includes a glossary of unusual terms.

The Life of Sir John Franklin, R.N.
  • Henry Duff Traill
  • Published online:
    05 February 2013
    Print publication:
    08 March 2012
    First published in:
    1896
  • Henry Duff Traill (1842–1900) was a prolific journalist, satirist and author. The son of a magistrate, he was called to the Bar in 1869 but began working as a journalist at the Yorkshire Post soon afterwards. He contributed to several newspapers, acting as chief political leader writer at The Daily Telegraph from 1882 to 1897 and editing The Observer for two years. He later became the editor of Literature, holding this post until his death. Among his diverse published works were six biographies, of which the most in-depth was that of Arctic explorer Sir John Franklin. Published in 1896 and drawing on personal documents provided by the Franklin family, it provides a picture of Franklin's character and personal life, alongside a detailed account of his career. Written fifty years after Franklin's presumed death, this work also covers the aftermath of his final ill-fated voyage in search of a north-west passage.

Journal of a Voyage of Discovery to the Arctic Regions, Performed 1818, in His Majesty's Ship Alexander, Wm. Edw. Parry, Esq. Lieut. and Commander
  • Alexander Fisher
  • Published online:
    05 February 2013
    Print publication:
    29 December 2011
    First published in:
    1819
  • This journal, published in 1819 and generally attributed to Alexander Fisher, assistant surgeon of the Alexander, describes Sir John Ross' abortive expedition to search for the North-West Passage. Ross' own report of the voyage (also reissued in this series) was highly controversial, and William Edward Parry (1790–1855), who had commanded the Alexander, was sent by the Admiralty early in 1819 to continue the mission instead of his former superior. Fisher's account, which he insists is 'strictly true', begins with details of the generous provisions and special cold-weather equipment on the ships (including a form of central heating, and wolf-skin blankets issued gratis to all personnel). He vividly describes Baffin Bay, icebergs, and 'dismal' black cliffs, identified by regular compass bearings. Later, the author expresses surprise at Ross' ship turning around and leaving Lancaster Sound, although no land was visible ahead; this incriminating detail may explain Fisher's preference for anonymity.

Page 8 of 11