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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 6 of 11

Northward Ho!
  • Including a Narrative of Captain Phipps's Expedition
  • Albert Hastings Markham
  • Published online:
    05 November 2014
    Print publication:
    20 March 2014
    First published in:
    1879
  • Originally published in 1879, this illustrated work by Albert Hastings Markham (1841–1918) opens with accounts of Arctic exploration from the sixth to the nineteenth centuries, including the expeditions led by Constantine John Phipps (1744–92), William Edward Parry (1790–1855) and George Nares (1831–1915). The journal of Thomas Floyd (c.1754–78), who served as midshipman under Phipps in 1773, comprises the most significant part of the work. Outlining the difficulties faced by an eighteenth-century expedition, ranging from encounters with wildlife to adverse weather conditions, Floyd's narrative is notable also for its inclusion of some early episodes in the career of Horatio Nelson, also a midshipman on the voyage. More than a dozen engravings enhance the work. Other publications by Markham, including A Whaling Cruise to Baffin's Bay (1874) and The Great Frozen Sea (1878), are also reissued in this series.

The Arctic Voyages of Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld, 1858–1879
  • Alexander Leslie
  • Published online:
    05 November 2012
    Print publication:
    22 December 2011
    First published in:
    1879
  • The explorer and geologist Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld (1832–1901) led the expedition that first successfully navigated the North-East Passage and circumnavigated the Eurasian continent. This famous expedition took place in 1878–80, on the steamship Vega. However, prior to this expedition, Nordenskiöld had been on a number of voyages to the Arctic, where comprehensive scientific surveys were carried out. This book, first published in 1879, describes his previous voyages, including those to Spitzbergen and Greenland. It was compiled by Alexander Leslie using Nordenskiöld's own reports, and contains a great deal of historically valuable information. It details encounters with natives met during the voyages and contains the official report of the Medical Officer, Dr Envall, on the health, hygiene and care of the sick during the Swedish Polar Expedition 1872–3. It also includes a list of books and memoirs relating to the Swedish Arctic expeditions and biographical information about Nordenskiöld.

Narrative of a Voyage to the Polar Sea during 1875–6 in HM Ships Alert and Discovery
  • With Notes on the Natural History
  • Volume 2
  • George Nares
  • Appendix by H. W. Feilden
  • Published online:
    05 December 2012
    Print publication:
    29 December 2011
    First published in:
    1878
  • The British Vice-Admiral and Arctic explorer Sir George Nares (1831–1915) received several honours for his contributions to science, including a fellowship of the Royal Society. He attended the Royal Naval School, New Cross, before joining the service in 1845. After a varied early career and the successful Challenger scientific expedition in the Atlantic, he took command of the British Arctic expedition of 1875–6. The expedition's attempt, led by second-in-command, Albert Markham, to reach the North Pole by dog-sled set a new record for farthest distance north achieved. This book, the second of Nares' popular two-volume account of the journey, published in 1878, describes the perilous return journey. It includes extensive appendices written by H. W. Feilden, giving details of the expedition's scientific discoveries, and features a cumulative index. Nares' official report of the expedition, and Markham's account, The Great Frozen North, are also available from the Cambridge Library Collection.

The Great Frozen Sea
  • A Personal Narrative of the Voyage of the Alert during the Arctic Expedition of 1875–6
  • Albert Hastings Markham
  • Published online:
    05 December 2012
    Print publication:
    01 December 2011
    First published in:
    1878
  • Sir Albert Hastings Markham (1841–1918) was a British Admiral and Arctic explorer. He joined the Royal Navy at fifteen and after postings in China, the Mediterranean and Australia he was promoted to Commander in 1872. For the next six years he took part in Arctic exploration, later writing fascinating accounts of his experiences. He was appointed as Naval Aide-de-Camp to Queen Victoria in 1888, and in 1903 he received a knighthood and was promoted to admiral. Published in 1878, this is the first of several editions of Markham's fascinating first-hand account of the British Arctic expedition of 1875–6. It describes the first passage through Nares Strait, named after the expedition's leader George Nares, and the intrepid dog-sled journey ,led by Markham, that took the party further north than any previous Arctic explorers. Nares' own account of the voyage is also reissued in this series.

Memoirs of Hans Hendrik, the Arctic Traveller, Serving under Kane, Hayes, Hall and Nares, 1853–1876
  • Translated from the Eskimo Language
  • Hans Hendrik
  • Translated by Henry Rink
  • Edited by George Stephens
  • Published online:
    18 December 2014
    Print publication:
    21 August 2014
    First published in:
    1878
  • First published in 1878, this English translation of the memoirs of Hans Hendrik (c.1834–89), a native Greenlander, provides a valuable alternative perspective on polar exploration in the nineteenth century. Inuit were often employed on Arctic expeditions of the period. Hendrik is remarkable, however, not only because his skills as a guide and hunter were called on repeatedly during several expeditions - notably those led by Elisha Kent Kane, Isaac Israel Hayes, Charles Francis Hall and George Strong Nares - but also because he wrote his own account of these experiences. The memoirs show that Hendrik distinguished himself through his application of survival skills and that he dealt with numerous challenges, including the forced abandonment of ship and drifting for months on an ice floe. Instances of sickness and malnutrition are also recorded, as is the poor treatment that Hendrik and other Inuit sometimes experienced from their employers.

Narrative of a Voyage to the Polar Sea during 1875–6 in HM Ships Alert and Discovery
  • With Notes on the Natural History
  • Volume 1
  • George Nares
  • Appendix by H. W. Feilden
  • Published online:
    05 November 2012
    Print publication:
    29 December 2011
    First published in:
    1878
  • The British Vice-Admiral and Arctic explorer Sir George Nares (1831–1915) received several honours for his contributions to science, including a fellowship of the Royal Society. He attended the Royal Naval School, New Cross, before joining the service in 1845. After a varied early career and the successful Challenger scientific expedition in the Atlantic, he took command of the British Arctic expedition of 1875–6 that hoped to reach the North Pole. Nares' popular two-volume account of the journey was published in 1878. Volume 1 describes the journey north, and covers the discovery of the channel later called Nares Strait, and the remarkable dog-sled expedition of second-in-command, Albert Markham, that set a new record for the farthest distance north achieved. Nares' official report of the expedition and Markham's account of the journey, The Great Frozen Sea, are also available from the Cambridge Library Collection.

The Royal Geographical Society and the Arctic Expedition of 1875–76
  • A Report
  • Clements Robert Markham
  • Published online:
    05 May 2013
    Print publication:
    23 August 2012
    First published in:
    1877
  • The enthusiasm of Sir Clements R. Markham (1830–1916) for travel and exploration started early and took him around the world. Originally a naval officer, he was later responsible for organising the geographical mapping of much of India, and brought the method of brewing pure quinine to India from his extensive travels in Peru. An active and influential member of the Hakluyt Society and Royal Geographical Society, Markham was instrumental in gathering support for this 1875–6 Arctic expedition. He gives a clear account of the funding, planning and aims, the execution of the journey, and how the research should be continued. In particular, he documents the physical activities involved on the expedition, including the surveying of coastal landforms, and the tradition of the Royal Navy in the Arctic. This 1877 template for scientific exploration demonstrates the approaches adopted in the nineteenth century, and is still of interest today.

New Lands within the Arctic Circle
  • Narrative of the Discoveries of the Austrian Ship Tegetthoff in the Years 1872–1874
  • Volume 2
  • Julius von Payer
  • Published online:
    05 December 2012
    Print publication:
    29 December 2011
    First published in:
    1876
  • This two-volume work by the nineteenth-century Arctic explorer and artist Julius von Payer (1841–1915), originally published in German and translated into English almost immediately in 1876, documents his experiences during the Austro-Hungarian North Pole Expedition, which he commanded from 1872 to 1874 with his colleague Karl Weyprecht. Early into the expedition, of which the original aim was to find a north-eastern passage, their ship, the Tegetthoff, became trapped in ice, and its resultant drifting into unknown territories led to the discovery of Franz-Josef Land. Volume 2 describes the crew's exploration of Franz-Josef Land by sledge, and their survival by means of bear-hunting, rationing of food, and making clothes from animal skins, in severe weather conditions, and encountering the challenges posed by icebergs and glaciers, until they were able to make their way to safety. The work contains both maps and paintings, the latter by von Payer himself.

Vocabulaire Français–Esquimau
  • Dialecte des Tchiglit des bouches du Mackenzie et de l'Anderson
  • Émile Petitot
  • Published online:
    05 May 2013
    Print publication:
    07 June 2012
    First published in:
    1876
  • French missionary Émile Petitot (1838–1916) was based in Canada's Northwest Territories for twelve years, from 1862. He visited the Inuit people five times and became so well accepted that they called him 'Mr Petitot, son of the Sun'. Petitot believed that understanding Inuit languages was crucial to the religious conversion of the natives. During his mission, he collected more linguistic material than ever before and prepared dictionaries of the various Dene dialects. In this book, published in 1876, he describes the Inuit's traditions and sets about the monumental task of compiling the first grammar and vocabulary of the extremely complex Tchiglit dialect. Petitot also made substantial contributions to the geology, palaeontology, zoology and botany of the Northwest region. His efforts were rewarded with a Silver Medal from the French Société de Géographie and the Back Award from the Royal Geographical Society of London.

New Lands within the Arctic Circle
  • Narrative of the Discoveries of the Austrian Ship Tegetthoff in the Years 1872–1874
  • Volume 1
  • Julius von Payer
  • Published online:
    05 November 2012
    Print publication:
    29 December 2011
    First published in:
    1876
  • This two-volume work by the nineteenth-century Arctic explorer and artist Julius von Payer (1841–1915), originally published in German and translated into English almost immediately in 1876, documents his experiences during the Austro-Hungarian North Pole Expedition, which he commanded from 1872 to 1874 with his colleague Karl Weyprecht. Early into the expedition, of which the original aim was to find a north-eastern passage, their ship, the Tegetthoff, became trapped in ice, and its resultant drifting into unknown territories led to the discovery of Franz-Josef Land. Volume 1 explores the climate and terrain of the Arctic region, the navigational strategies employed by the crew, and the challenges they faced as perilous conditions led them to abandon ship. The author also pays tribute to Weyprecht for his courageous attempts to free the vessel. The work contains both maps and paintings, the latter by von Payer himself.

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 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.

The Official Report of the Recent Arctic Expedition
  • George S. Nares
  • Published online:
    05 November 2012
    Print publication:
    22 December 2011
    First published in:
    1876
  • In 1875, Sir George Strong Nares (1831–1915) set out for the Arctic in command of the ships Alert and Discovery, hoping to reach the North Pole and find the rumoured Open Polar Sea that surrounded it. The Official Report, published in 1876, recounts his fifteenth-month journey in lively and often harrowing detail, describing freezing temperatures, frostbite and scurvy, vast, uncharted landscapes and treacherous, ice-choked waterways. It records the progress of the British Arctic Expedition with the scrupulous detail of a ship's log, providing valuable insights into the logistical complexities and human costs of Polar exploration. 'We had arrived on the shore of the Arctic Ocean finding it exactly the opposite of an Open Polar Sea', Nares notes ruefully. A two-volume popular account of the voyage, published in 1878, is also reissued in this series.

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.

Manual of the Natural History, Geology, and Physics of Greenland and the Neighbouring Regions
  • Prepared for the Use of the Arctic Expedition of 1875, under the Direction of the Arctic Committee of the Royal Society
  • Edited by T. Rupert Jones
  • Published online:
    05 June 2016
    Print publication:
    25 September 2014
    First published in:
    1875
  • This 1875 manual presents a detailed scientific picture of Greenland and its Arctic environment. Edited by the geologist Thomas Rupert Jones (1819–1911), it was prepared for the British Arctic Expedition of the same year in order to inform and instruct the explorers. The work presents previously ascertained information, ranging from astronomical data, including observations of the northern lights, through to material on plant and animal life. Sir George Nares (1831–1915), the expedition's leader, had hoped the North Pole could be reached. Though this proved impossible, a team of his men set a record for the furthest northern latitude attained at the time. Underpinning the expedition's gathering of important scientific and geographical results, this manual clarifies for modern readers the specific objectives of late Victorian polar research. Nares' official 1876 report and his 1878 two-volume account of the journey are also reissued in the Cambridge Library Collection.

A Selection of Papers on Arctic Geography and Ethnology
  • Reprinted and Presented to the Arctic Expedition of 1875, by the President, Council, and Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society
  • Edited by Clements Robert Markham
  • Published online:
    05 May 2013
    Print publication:
    14 June 2012
    First published in:
    1875
  • In 1873 the Admiralty began planning an expedition to find a route to the North Pole through Smith Sound, the passage between Greenland and Canada. This collection of papers was published in 1875, with the aim of being 'useful to the officers of the [British Arctic] expedition' leaving later that year. The book is divided into two sections: geographical observations by the likes of Admiral Collinson, who led the 1850 expedition in search of John Franklin, and ethnographic observations, including accounts of the Inuit and their language. Unfortunately, it does not include the one piece of information that might have most helped the expedition: they took concentrated lime juice to combat scurvy, but the concentrating process removed the essential Vitamin C. The expedition was ultimately a failure in its aim of reaching the Pole, but this collection is a unique record of the sum of the knowledge accumulated by that time.

The Frozen Zone and its Explorers
  • A Comprehensive Record of Voyages, Travels, Discoveries, Adventures and Whale-Fishing in the Arctic Regions for One Thousand Years
  • Edited by Alexander Hyde, A. C. Baldwin, W. L. Gage
  • Published online:
    05 January 2015
    Print publication:
    17 July 2014
    First published in:
    1874
  • This account by three American authors of one thousand years of exploration in the Arctic regions, culminating in the voyage and loss of the USS Polaris in 1872, was published in 1874. The work, which is derived from many earlier published accounts, begins with a short and highly sentimental biography of the famous American explorer Elisha Kane (whose own works are reissued in this series). It continues with the geography of the Arctic regions, and the voyages of the Vikings and early modern explorers, describing the activities of the whaling fleets as well as the oceanographic and scientific researches of the naval expeditions from many countries seeking the North-West Passage. This is a useful and readable synthesis, which ends with a stirring appeal to the British Admiralty to resume the work of polar exploration which had gone into decline after the end of the official search for Sir John Franklin.

Reindeer, Dogs, and Snow-Shoes
  • A Journal of Siberian Travel and Explorations Made in the Years 1865, 1866 and 1867
  • Richard James Bush
  • Published online:
    05 May 2013
    Print publication:
    26 April 2012
    First published in:
    1871
  • The Russo-American Telegraph Project of 1865–7 was truly monumental. Although plans to lay cable from San Francisco to Moscow via Alaska and Siberia were superseded by the laying of the sub-Atlantic cable, one of the benefits of the enterprise was the knowledge of the area gained by those engineers and explorers sent out to assess the task. Publication of their experiences and travels followed and one such work was this journal by Richard James Bush, first published in 1871 by Harper & Brothers, describing his adventures in Siberia between 1865 and 1867. Bush makes it clear that this is not a scientific account, but a travel narrative containing observations of his time in the Kamchatka Peninsula and the area of Siberia by the Sea of Okhotsk, of herding deer and life in the tundra. The engagingly written book is illustrated with fine drawings of the region by Bush himself.

The Polar World
  • A Popular Description of Man and Nature in the Arctic and Antarctic Regions of the Globe
  • Georg Hartwig
  • Published online:
    18 December 2014
    Print publication:
    22 May 2014
    First published in:
    1869
  • The German scientific writer Georg Hartwig (1813–80) produced many popular works on geographical and natural history topics, among them this book, published in English in 1869. (An American version, with additional chapters, came out in the same year.) Unusually for the period, it surveyed exploration in the Antarctic as well as the Arctic, though the coverage of the latter makes up the bulk of the book. Hartwig's intention is 'to convey solid instruction under an entertaining form', combining the history of exploration with descriptions of the polar regions explored by the mid-century, including Siberia as well as the islands and ice packs of the Arctic Ocean. In this very readable work, Hartwig describes geography, geology and climate, as well as the survival strategies of plant, animal and human life in an extreme environment, using a very wide range of earlier published material to create an integrated narrative.

The Open Polar Sea
  • A Narrative of a Voyage of Discovery towards the North Pole, in the Schooner United States
  • Isaac Israel Hayes
  • Published online:
    05 May 2013
    Print publication:
    10 May 2012
    First published in:
    1867
  • The Open Polar Sea was one of the most prevalent myths of nineteenth-century Arctic exploration. Several explorers had hypothesised a stretch of ice-free sea between Greenland and the North Pole, and several expeditions set out in search of it. One of these was planned and led by Isaac Israel Hayes (1832–81), an American physician and explorer. This account of the expedition, first published in 1866, was compiled from his journals. Having left Boston in a small schooner so overloaded with equipment that a passenger could lean over the deck rail and touch the sea, Hayes and his crew almost faced shipwreck off Nova Scotia and regularly saw their cabins flooded on their way to Greenland, where, in calmer weather, they encountered the first palatial ice floes. Written for the general reader rather than for scientific purposes, this book still serves as an accessible, entertaining guide to the voyage.

Page 6 of 11