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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 10 of 11

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.

The Voyages and Travels of Captains Parry, Franklin, Ross, and Mr Belzoni
  • Forming an Interesting History of the Manners, Customs, and Characters of Various Nations
  • John Frederick Dennett
  • Published online:
    05 January 2015
    Print publication:
    06 November 2014
    First published in:
    1826
  • Little is known about the life of Captain John Frederick Dennett, who published this compilation of travel narratives in 1826, with a second edition in 1835. A naval officer, he was clearly familiar with recent developments in polar exploration, but his writing also had an educational and moral purpose. 'It must be attended with advantage to become acquainted with the state of mankind in other parts of the world', but also it will be encouraging to the poor in Britain 'to find that the lowest state of comfort in this country is preferable to all the enjoyments within the reach of natives of other climes'. Emphasising encounters with native peoples rather than geographical or scientific discoveries, Dennett describes expeditions by Parry, Franklin and Sir John Ross in the Arctic seas and the Canadian north, and also includes a chapter on Giovanni Battista Belzoni's travels in Egypt and Nubia.

Journal of a Third Voyage for the Discovery of a Northwest Passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific
  • Performed in the Years 1824–25, in His Majesty's ships Hecla and Fury, under the Orders of Captain William Edward Parry
  • William Edward Parry
  • Published online:
    05 September 2013
    Print publication:
    12 May 2011
    First published in:
    1826
  • In May 1824, the British explorer William Edward Parry (1790–1855) took to the seas on his third attempt to discover the North-West Passage, the legendary route to the Pacific along the northern coast of North America. It was a perilous voyage that he abandoned after the wreck of his ship, the Fury; however, during it he made some pioneering discoveries about the route's climate, meteorology, wildlife and nautical conditions, which influenced his successors and remain of interest to scientists and seafarers today. In these fascinating memoirs, first published in 1826, Parry documents his journey, revealing the difficulties he encountered and the phenomena he observed. Through extensive illustrations and vivid descriptions, he recalls the tumultuous weather and treacherous terrain that characterised - and finally defeated - the expedition, and expresses his gratitude to his fellow voyagers, for their bravery and determination in adversity, and their united efforts to save the doomed vessel.

A Voyage towards the South Pole: Performed in the Years 1822–24
  • Containing an Examination of the Antarctic Sea, and a Visit to Tierra del Fuego
  • James Weddell
  • Published online:
    05 November 2012
    Print publication:
    29 December 2011
    First published in:
    1825
  • James Weddell (1787–1834) a self-taught navigator, started his sailing career aged 9 and later led several voyages towards the Antarctic. This book, first published in 1825, is his account of the voyage of the Jane, which went on a sealing trip to the Falklands and beyond, but turned back before reaching Antarctica itself. It features detailed scientific measurements, careful observations of wildlife, and descriptions of the islands and coasts visited by the expedition, including an important early account of the South Shetlands. It also provides first hand insight into the hardships of a long and perilous voyage. Weddell speaks warmly of the Jane's crew, who withstood frostbite, reduced rations and frequent danger from icebergs. He also reports encounters with other ships, mutiny, scurvy and even the alleged sighting of a mermaid. His thoughtful approach to his mission makes this fascinating exploration narrative an especially valuable historical source.

Journal of a Second Voyage for the Discovery of a North-West Passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific
  • Performed in the Years 1821–22–23 ... under the Orders of Captain William Edward Parry
  • William Edward Parry
  • Published online:
    05 November 2012
    Print publication:
    01 December 2011
    First published in:
    1824
  • After joining the Navy at thirteen, William Edward Parry (1790–1855) spent three years protecting the whale fisheries of Spitzbergen. He was later appointed to several Arctic expeditions. Although his first voyage in search of the North-West Passage ended without success in 1819, it provided valuable scientific data and experience. The expedition of 1821–3 was longer, with two winters spent on the ice, but also ended without success. Parry's account of that second voyage, first published in 1824, provides insights into the early days of Arctic exploration and the character of one of its pioneers, noted for his care for his men, his precision in navigation and scientific observations, and his ability to quickly find solutions to difficult problems. The book also includes descriptions of the 'Esquimaux' encountered by the explorers, and their communities as well as a vocabulary of their language.

Journal of a Voyage to the Northern Whale-Fishery
  • Including Researches and Discoveries on the Eastern Coast of West Greenland, Made in the Summer of 1822, in the Ship Baffin of Liverpool
  • William Scoresby
  • Published online:
    05 November 2012
    Print publication:
    29 December 2011
    First published in:
    1823
  • William Scoresby junior (1789–1857), explorer, scientist, and later Church of England clergyman, first travelled to the Arctic when he was just ten years old. The son of Arctic whaler and navigator William Scoresby of Whitby, he spent nearly every summer for twenty years at a Greenland whale fishery. He made significant discoveries in Arctic geography, meteorology, oceanography, and magnetism, and was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1824. First published in 1823, this book recounts Scoresby's voyage to Greenland in the summer of 1822 aboard the Baffin, a whaler of his own design. On this journey, his penultimate voyage to the north, he charted a large section of the coast of Greenland. His narrative also includes descriptions of scientific observations and geographical discoveries made during the voyage, and the appendices includes lists of rock specimens, plants and animal life, and notes on meteorological and other data.

Narrative of a Journey to the Shores of the Polar Sea, in the Years 1819, 20, 21, and 22
  • John Franklin
  • Published online:
    05 February 2013
    Print publication:
    26 January 2012
    First published in:
    1823
  • First published in 1823, this book narrates the disastrous expedition undertaken by Naval officer and Arctic explorer Sir John Franklin up the Coppermine River in North America. Franklin (1786–1847) and nineteen others set out in 1819, initially with guides from the Hudson Bay Company until the journey continued overland, when they relied on Native Americans as guides. The party ran short of supplies and, lacking adequate knowledge for survival, were reduced to eating lichens. One of the party was suspected of eating the bodies of the nine men who had died of exposure and starvation, and two more were killed in a subsequent skirmish. The book was immediately popular on publication and quickly became a travel literature classic. Franklin undertook a second, more successful Arctic journey (the account of which is also published in this series) before setting out on his final expedition of 1845, which ended in tragedy and enduring mystery.

The North Georgia Gazette and Winter Chronicle
  • Edited by Edward Sabine
  • Published online:
    05 May 2013
    Print publication:
    14 June 2012
    First published in:
    1821
  • Alone, months of sailing separating them from home, in the polar winter where the sun never rises, the two ships of Captain William Parry's expedition lay encased in ice from November 1819 to March 1820. In order to fully chart the North-West Passage between the Atlantic and the Pacific, it was necessary to overwinter in the Arctic, something that no other British expedition had done before. To boost morale in these uncomfortable circumstances, Captain Edward Sabine (1788–1883), a senior scientist carrying out measurements of natural phenomena, founded and edited a weekly magazine, which ran for twenty-one issues and was made available to the wider world in 1821. Offering jokes, poems, stories and thinly disguised gossip, the members of the expedition contributed to the magazine with enthusiasm (after having first thawed their ink). This little book offers unique insight into what polar exploration in the nineteenth century was actually like.

Journal of a Voyage for the Discovery of a North-West Passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific
  • Performed in the Years 1819–20 ... under the Orders of William Edward Parry
  • William Edward Parry
  • Published online:
    05 November 2012
    Print publication:
    01 December 2011
    First published in:
    1821
  • William Edward Parry (1790–1855) spent the early part of his naval career protecting the whale fisheries of Spitzbergen. He was later appointed to several Arctic expeditions, including three in search of the North-West Passage. This 1821 publication, reissued here in the unchanged second edition from the same year, describes the first of these voyages. Although unsuccessful, it provided valuable scientific data and experience that shaped subsequent expeditions. Noted for his care for his men, and his ability to quickly find solutions to difficult problems, Parry realised during this expedition the importance of keeping his explorers occupied during the winter, and started a newspaper and a theatre group. This first expedition established that, contrary to John Ross's 1819 account (also reissued in this series), a westward route through Lancaster Sound did in fact exist. It also began to map the many islands in the region.

Letters Written during the Late Voyage of Discovery in the Western Arctic Sea
  • Published online:
    18 December 2014
    Print publication:
    17 July 2014
    First published in:
    1821
  • Sir Edward Parry (1790–1855) wrote accounts of his three Arctic expeditions, which have also been reissued in this series. This book takes the form of letters written to a sibling by an anonymous member of the crew on Parry's 1819–20 voyage. It was brought out in 1821 by the enterprising publisher Richard Phillips ahead of any other narrative, as all accounts and journals had first to be handed to the Admiralty Board for the extraction of any important details. It seems likely that the work, which is carefully constructed and elegant in style, was elaborated either from notes or from a genuine series of letters, to get round the restriction on publication. This is a fascinating narrative, full of striking details, such as entertainments on board to help morale, the reappearance of the sun at the end of the Arctic winter, and the sight of the aurora borealis.

An Account of the Arctic Regions
  • With a History and Description of the Northern Whale-Fishery
  • Volume 2
  • William Scoresby
  • Published online:
    05 November 2012
    Print publication:
    03 November 2011
    First published in:
    1820
  • Written by explorer, scientist and later clergyman William Scoresby (1789–1857), this two-volume guide to the Arctic regions was first published in 1820. Scoresby, himself the son of a whaler and Arctic explorer, first sailed to the polar regions at the age of eleven, and was later apprenticed to his father. He became a correspondent of Sir Joseph Banks, and his extensive research on the Arctic area included pioneering work in oceanography, magnetism, and the study of Arctic currents and waves. He surveyed 400 miles of the Greenland coast in 1822. This account was the first book published in Britain which was devoted solely to the whale fisheries. Volume 2 focuses on the fisheries and includes a history of whaling, the methods used to extract whale oil and prepare whalebone, and the impact of new developments. The book ends with a detailed account of a whaling expedition in 1816.

An Account of the Arctic Regions
  • With a History and Description of the Northern Whale-Fishery
  • Volume 1
  • William Scoresby
  • Published online:
    05 October 2012
    Print publication:
    03 November 2011
    First published in:
    1820
  • Written by explorer, scientist and later clergyman William Scoresby (1789–1857), this two-volume guide to the Arctic regions was first published in 1820. Scoresby, himself the son of a whaler and Arctic explorer, first sailed to the polar regions at the age of eleven, and was later apprenticed to his father. He became a correspondent of Sir Joseph Banks, and his extensive research on the Arctic area included pioneering work in oceanography, magnetism, and the study of Arctic currents and waves. He surveyed 400 miles of the Greenland coast in 1822. This account was the first book published in Britain which was devoted solely to the whale fisheries. Volume 1 is a general geographical survey of the Arctic region and includes detailed observations of polar ice conditions, atmospherology, and zoology. The book also considers the much-debated question of northern sea communication between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

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 Voyage to Hudson's Bay during the Summer of 1812
  • Containing a Particular Account of the Icebergs and Other Phenomena which Present Themselves in those Regions; Also, a Description of the Esquimeaux and North American Indians
  • Thomas M'Keevor, Christophe-Paulin de La Poix de Fréminville
  • Published online:
    05 November 2014
    Print publication:
    20 March 2014
    First published in:
    1819
  • Thomas M'Keevor served as the physician for the second group of Selkirk settlers that set out in 1812 for the Red River Colony in Canada. This short account of what he witnessed, particularly the crossing of Hudson Bay, appeared in 1819. Greatly interested in icebergs, M'Keevor discusses these 'sea mountains' in detail. He also describes the Inuit peoples encountered, giving a short glossary of Inuit words. Presenting a vivid account of the scene, he was clearly moved by seeing a polar bear protecting her cubs from a hunting party sent out from the ship. Also published in this volume is a brief account in English of the 1806 voyage of the Sirène by the French naval officer Fréminville. Initially tasked with attacking British whalers off Spitsbergen, the frigate came close to the coast of Greenland, yet most of the time on land was spent in Iceland, where observations were made of the Icelandic people, fauna and geology.

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.

A Voyage of Discovery, Made under the Orders of the Admiralty, in His Majesty's Ships Isabella and Alexander
  • For the Purpose of Exploring Baffin's Bay, and Inquiring into the Probability of a North-West Passage
  • John Ross
  • Published online:
    05 December 2012
    Print publication:
    01 December 2011
    First published in:
    1819
  • Sir John Ross (1777–1856) was a Scottish naval officer and Arctic explorer. He joined the Royal Navy at the age of nine and distinguished himself during the Napoleonic Wars. In 1818, Ross was assigned to H.M.S. Isabella and commissioned to search for the North-West Passage. This book, published in 1819, describes the expedition, which was unsuccessful although it did discover new facts about Baffin Bay. Several of Ross's former officers disputed his account of the decision to turn back at Lancaster Sound, which he had mistakenly believed was impassable. The ensuing controversy affected the rest of Ross's career and made him unpopular with influential contemporaries including Sir John Barrow and William Edward Parry. It also soured relations with his young nephew James Clark Ross, who had accompanied him, and who in 1831, during a second eventful expedition with his uncle, identified the location of the magnetic North Pole.

A Chronological History of Voyages into the Arctic Regions
  • Undertaken Chiefly for the Purpose of Discovering a North-East, North-West, or Polar Passage between the Atlantic and Pacific
  • John Barrow
  • Published online:
    05 November 2011
    Print publication:
    09 May 2011
    First published in:
    1818
  • Sir John Barrow (1764–1848), a founder and early president of the Royal Geographical Society, served as Second Secretary to the Admiralty for forty years. He was responsible for promoting polar exploration, and published two books on the subject for general readers, both now reissued in the Cambridge Library Collection. This, the earlier of the two, appeared in 1818 and is a chronological account of Arctic voyages from the Viking period to the early nineteenth century, and of the intensifying search for a northern route between the Atlantic and the Pacific. Barrow covers the expeditions of European explorers including Cabot, Frobisher, Barentz, Hudson and Baffin. He quotes extracts from their journals to create a vivid picture of the extreme conditions experienced by the explorers, their battles against cold, disease and starvation, their impressions of the plentiful Arctic wildlife, and both friendly and hostile encounters with the Inuit.

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.

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.

Page 10 of 11