A Selection of Books, Maps and Manuscripts on the Northwest Passage in the British Library
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The Death of Captain Cook in Theatre 224
The Many Deaths of Captain Cook A Study in Metropolitan Mass Culture, 1780-1810 Ruth Scobie PhD University of York Department of English April 2013 i Ruth Scobie The Many Deaths of Captain Cook Abstract This thesis traces metropolitan representations, between 1780 and 1810, of the violent death of Captain James Cook at Kealakekua Bay in Hawaii. It takes an interdisciplinary approach to these representations, in order to show how the interlinked texts of a nascent commercial culture initiated the creation of a colonial character, identified by Epeli Hau’ofa as the looming “ghost of Captain Cook.” The introduction sets out the circumstances of Cook’s death and existing metropolitan reputation in 1779. It situates the figure of Cook within contemporary mechanisms of ‘celebrity,’ related to notions of mass metropolitan culture. It argues that previous accounts of Cook’s fame have tended to overemphasise the immediacy and unanimity with which the dead Cook was adopted as an imperialist hero; with the result that the role of the scene within colonialist histories can appear inevitable, even natural. In response, I show that a contested mythology around Cook’s death was gradually constructed over the three decades after the incident took place, and was the contingent product of a range of texts, places, events, and individuals. The first section examines responses to the news of Cook’s death in January 1780, focusing on the way that the story was mediated by, first, its status as ‘news,’ created by newspapers; and second, the effects on Londoners of the Gordon riots in June of the same year. -
My Dear Beaufort: a Personal Letter from John Ross's Arctic Expedition
ARCTIC VOL. 40, NO. 1 (MARCH 1987) P. 66-77 My Dear Beaufort: A Personal Letter from John Ross’s Arctic Expedition of 1829-33 CLIVE HOLLAND’ and JAMES M. SAVELLE2 (Received 30 January 1986; accepted in revised form 6 October 1986) ABSTRACT. During his four years’ residence in the Canadian Arctic in search of a Northwest Passage in 1829-33, John Ross wrote a private letter to Francis Beaufort, Hydrographer of the Navy. The letter, reproduced here, provides valuable historical insights into many aspects of Ross’s character and of the expedition generally. His feelings of bitterness toward several of his contemporaries, especially John Barrow and William E. Parry, due to the ridicule suffered as a result of the failure of his first arctic voyage in 1818, are especially revealing, as is his apparently uneasy relationship with his nephew and second-in-command, James Clark Ross. Ross’s increasing despair andpessimism with each succeeding enforced wintering and, eventually, the abandonment of the expedition ship Victory are also clearly evident. Finally,the understandable problems of maintaining crew discipline during the final year of the expedition, though downplayed, begin to emerge. Key words: John Ross, arctic exploration, 1829-33 Arctic Expedition, unpublished letter RÉSUMÉ. Durant les quatre années où ilr6sidadans l’Arctique canadien à la recherche du Passage du Nord-Ouest, de 1829 à 1833, John Ross écrivit une lettre personnelle à Francis Beaufort, hydrographe de la marine. Cette lettre, reproduite ici, permet de mieux apprécier du point de vue historique, certains aspects du caractère de Ross et de l’expédition en général. -
Of Penguins and Polar Bears Shapero Rare Books 93
OF PENGUINS AND POLAR BEARS Shapero Rare Books 93 OF PENGUINS AND POLAR BEARS EXPLORATION AT THE ENDS OF THE EARTH 32 Saint George Street London W1S 2EA +44 20 7493 0876 [email protected] shapero.com CONTENTS Antarctica 03 The Arctic 43 2 Shapero Rare Books ANTARCTIca Shapero Rare Books 3 1. AMUNDSEN, ROALD. The South Pole. An account of “Amundsen’s legendary dash to the Pole, which he reached the Norwegian Antarctic Expedition in the “Fram”, 1910-1912. before Scott’s ill-fated expedition by over a month. His John Murray, London, 1912. success over Scott was due to his highly disciplined dogsled teams, more accomplished skiers, a shorter distance to the A CORNERSTONE OF ANTARCTIC EXPLORATION; THE ACCOUNT OF THE Pole, better clothing and equipment, well planned supply FIRST EXPEDITION TO REACH THE SOUTH POLE. depots on the way, fortunate weather, and a modicum of luck”(Books on Ice). A handsomely produced book containing ten full-page photographic images not found in the Norwegian original, First English edition. 2 volumes, 8vo., xxxv, [i], 392; x, 449pp., 3 folding maps, folding plan, 138 photographic illustrations on 103 plates, original maroon and all full-page images being reproduced to a higher cloth gilt, vignettes to upper covers, top edges gilt, others uncut, usual fading standard. to spine flags, an excellent fresh example. Taurus 71; Rosove 9.A1; Books on Ice 7.1. £3,750 [ref: 96754] 4 Shapero Rare Books 2. [BELGIAN ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION]. Grande 3. BELLINGSHAUSEN, FABIAN G. VON. The Voyage of Fete Venitienne au Parc de 6 a 11 heurs du soir en faveur de Captain Bellingshausen to the Antarctic Seas 1819-1821. -
The Intrepid Life of George Back, Franklin's Lieutenant. by Peter Steele
Document generated on 09/24/2021 11:02 a.m. Scientia Canadensis Canadian Journal of the History of Science, Technology and Medicine Revue canadienne d'histoire des sciences, des techniques et de la médecine The Man Who Mapped the Arctic: The Intrepid Life of George Back, Franklin's Lieutenant. By Peter Steele. (Vancouver: Raincoast Books, 2003. xviii + 307 p., ill. ISBN 1-55192-648-2. $39.95) Trevor H. Levere Volume 27, 2003 URI: https://id.erudit.org/iderudit/800462ar DOI: https://doi.org/10.7202/800462ar See table of contents Publisher(s) CSTHA/AHSTC ISSN 0829-2507 (print) 1918-7750 (digital) Explore this journal Cite this review Levere, T. H. (2003). Review of [The Man Who Mapped the Arctic: The Intrepid Life of George Back, Franklin's Lieutenant. By Peter Steele. (Vancouver: Raincoast Books, 2003. xviii + 307 p., ill. ISBN 1-55192-648-2. $39.95)]. Scientia Canadensis, 27, 101–104. https://doi.org/10.7202/800462ar Tous droits réservés © Canadian Science and Technology Historical Association This document is protected by copyright law. Use of the services of Érudit / Association pour l'histoire de la science et de la technologie au Canada, 2005 (including reproduction) is subject to its terms and conditions, which can be viewed online. https://apropos.erudit.org/en/users/policy-on-use/ This article is disseminated and preserved by Érudit. Érudit is a non-profit inter-university consortium of the Université de Montréal, Université Laval, and the Université du Québec à Montréal. Its mission is to promote and disseminate research. https://www.erudit.org/en/ Book Reviews / Comptes rendus 101 Science / Science The Man Who Mapped the Arctic: The Intrepid Life of George Back, Franklin's Lieutenant. -
From Bermuda Based Siege Vessel to Arctic Explorer
From Bermuda based siege vessel to arctic explorer May 12, 2021 Not all ships earn fantastic stories filled with intrigue and mystery, in fact most ships live rather dull lives. However, the story of HMS Terror, is rich, lengthy, and tragically full of misfortune for her crew. From her early start as a siege vessel based out of Bermuda during the War of 1812 to her ill-fated polar expedition in search of the fabled Northwest Passage, the story of HMSTerror illustrates the evolving function of the Royal Navy and Bermuda’s role within that history. HMS Terror‘s story also connects two diametrically opposed locations: warm and sub- tropical Bermuda and the harsh climate of the arctic tundra. HMS Terror, Bermuda + Siege of Baltimore The Royal Naval Dockyard, which is now home to the National Museum of Bermuda, was a crucial location for the British Royal Navy’s control over the Atlantic in the 19th century, especially after the British lost their North American holdings during the American Revolution. Bermuda’s proximity to the North American East Coast made it the perfect staging location for the War of 1812. The Island was close enough to easily stage military campaigns against the US mainland while was also far enough to ensure that there was no threat of invasion from a then non-existent US Navy and provide a safe haven for the hundreds of ships and thousands of sailors to call home. In 1814 HMS Terror was established as an integral part of the fleet in Bermuda, where she participated in raids and sieges on American East Coast cities. -
The Life and Letters of a Royal Navy Surgeon, Edward Lawton Moss MD
REVIEWS • 109 why they are the crème de la crème. Chapters 7a and 7b pic- plateau of Washington Irving Island off the entrance to ture and describe some of these items. Chapter 7c, entitled Dobbin Bay on the east coast of Ellesmere Island. Much to “Gems Showcase,” is a visual feast. No fewer than 43 pages their surprise, they discovered two ancient-looking stone are devoted to images, almost all in colour, of polar material cairns on the plateau, but failed to locate any evidence of such as notices of various kinds, postcards, covers, and let- who might have built them. Moss made a quick sketch of ters. This section alone is worth the price of the book. the two cairns, a sketch he later back in England turned into The ultimate goal of many philatelists is to exhibit their a colour painting, now kept at the Scott Polar Institute in collections and, they hope, to earn a commensurate award. Cambridge. The drawing and the mention of the cairns in Chapter eight outlines the differences between showing one’s the expedition diaries resulted in our own investigation of collection and exhibiting it. Although many of the processes the plateau in July 1979. By then, numerous finds of Norse involved in showing a polar exhibit are the same as those artifacts in nearby 12th century Inuit house ruins strongly of exhibiting a general postal history collection, the author suggested that the builders of the old cairns could have been explains the differences in some detail. If an exhibit is to Norse explorers from Greenland (McCullough and Schled- do well in competition, planning, deciding what to include, ermann, 1999). -
Frederick J. Krabbé, Last Man to See HMS Investigator Afloat, May 1854
The Journal of the Hakluyt Society January 2017 Frederick J. Krabbé, last man to see HMS Investigator afloat, May 1854 William Barr1 and Glenn M. Stein2 Abstract Having ‘served his apprenticeship’ as Second Master on board HMS Assistance during Captain Horatio Austin’s expedition in search of the missing Franklin expedition in 1850–51, whereby he had made two quite impressive sledge trips, in the spring of 1852 Frederick John Krabbé was selected by Captain Leopold McClintock to serve under him as Master (navigation officer) on board the steam tender HMS Intrepid, part of Captain Sir Edward Belcher’s squadron, again searching for the Franklin expedition. After two winterings, the second off Cape Cockburn, southwest Bathurst Island, Krabbé was chosen by Captain Henry Kellett to lead a sledging party west to Mercy Bay, Banks Island, to check on the condition of HMS Investigator, abandoned by Commander Robert M’Clure, his officers and men, in the previous spring. Krabbé executed these orders and was thus the last person to see Investigator afloat. Since, following Belcher’s orders, Kellett had abandoned HMS Resolute and Intrepid, rather than their return journey ending near Cape Cockburn, Krabbé and his men had to continue for a further 140 nautical miles (260 km) to Beechey Island. This made the total length of their sledge trip 863½ nautical miles (1589 km), one of the longest man- hauled sledge trips in the history of the Arctic. Introduction On 22 July 2010 a party from the underwater archaeology division of Parks Canada flew into Mercy Bay in Aulavik National Park, on Banks Island, Northwest Territories – its mission to try to locate HMS Investigator, abandoned here by Commander Robert McClure in 1853.3 Two days later underwater archaeologists Ryan Harris and Jonathan Moore took to the water in a Zodiac to search the bay, towing a side-scan sonar towfish. -
A Personal Narrative of the Origins of the British National Antarctic Expedition 1901-1904 by Sir Clements Markham, Edited and Introduced by Clive Holland
From The Introduction of Antarctic Obsession; A personal narrative of the origins of the British National Antarctic Expedition 1901-1904 by Sir Clements Markham, edited and introduced by Clive Holland. Alburgh, Harleston, Norfolk: Bluntisham Books - Erskine Press, 1986 Pages ix-xxiii I THE CAREER of Sir Clements Markham is almost unique in providing a living and active connection between several of the most outstanding periods of British polar exploration spanning nearly three-quarters of a century. As he is swift to point out in this Personal Narrative, he was acquainted with members of Sir James Clark Ross's pioneering Antarctic expedition of 1839-43 which discovered Ross Island and Victoria Land – regions which were to become the focus of Markham's attention in later life. He had no other direct connection with this expedition, however, for he was only nine years old when it sailed. His own first experience of polar exploration was in another major period of discovery: the search for Sir John Franklin's missing North-west Passage expedition of 1845-8, during which, over some 12 years, much of the Canadian Arctic archipelago was explored for the first time. His role was a modest one, as a midshipman on the Assistance during Captain H. T. Austin's search expedition of 1875-6, but the experience was evidently enough to confirm his enduring interest in the polar regions. His next Arctic role, to which he also refers in the Personal Narrative, was in the organization of the British Arctic Expedition of 1875-6, the primary objects of which were the attainment of the North Pole and the exploration of northern Greenland and Ellesmere Island. -
In the Lands of the Romanovs: an Annotated Bibliography of First-Hand English-Language Accounts of the Russian Empire
ANTHONY CROSS In the Lands of the Romanovs An Annotated Bibliography of First-hand English-language Accounts of The Russian Empire (1613-1917) OpenBook Publishers To access digital resources including: blog posts videos online appendices and to purchase copies of this book in: hardback paperback ebook editions Go to: https://www.openbookpublishers.com/product/268 Open Book Publishers is a non-profit independent initiative. We rely on sales and donations to continue publishing high-quality academic works. In the Lands of the Romanovs An Annotated Bibliography of First-hand English-language Accounts of the Russian Empire (1613-1917) Anthony Cross http://www.openbookpublishers.com © 2014 Anthony Cross The text of this book is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license (CC BY 4.0). This license allows you to share, copy, distribute and transmit the text; to adapt it and to make commercial use of it providing that attribution is made to the author (but not in any way that suggests that he endorses you or your use of the work). Attribution should include the following information: Cross, Anthony, In the Land of the Romanovs: An Annotated Bibliography of First-hand English-language Accounts of the Russian Empire (1613-1917), Cambridge, UK: Open Book Publishers, 2014. http://dx.doi.org/10.11647/ OBP.0042 Please see the list of illustrations for attribution relating to individual images. Every effort has been made to identify and contact copyright holders and any omissions or errors will be corrected if notification is made to the publisher. As for the rights of the images from Wikimedia Commons, please refer to the Wikimedia website (for each image, the link to the relevant page can be found in the list of illustrations). -
Elisha Kent Kane (1820-1857)
I78 ARCTIC PROFILES Elisha Kent Kane (1 820-1857) The first American arctic explorer of note, Elisha Kent Kane north up the west coast of Greenland to latitude 78”N, where was a man of broad interests and varied talents. Although he the Advunce was icebound and never released. Two of Kane’s died when he was only 37 years old, he distinguished himself crew continued by sled and on foot to 81 “22’N. “the northern- as a career naval officer, medical doctor, scientist, author, and mostland ever trodden by awhite man,” where they saw artist, and his death inspired a funeral procession by train from “open water stretching to the nothern horizon. The unending New Orleans to the home of his birth in Philadelphia. Eulogies shore line waswashed by shiningwaters without a sign of hailed Kane as America’s “Arctic Columbus”. ice.” Kane, believing this to’be the scientific culmination of theirjourney, declared: “The great North Sea, the Polynia has Well-travelled prior to his mid-century arctic voyages, Kane been reached.” had journeyed through South America, Africa, Europe, and the Far East. Small of stature and physically frail as a result of By the spring of 1855, after three bummers and two winters a rheumatica ‘heart, the naval doctor neverthelesssought that proved far harsher and more impoverished than the men’s challenges of physical endurance, which led to his volunteer- most pessimistic fears, Kane and his crew faced imminent star- ing for the arduous U.S. polar expedition in 1850 as ship’s vation. Consequentunrest and disloyalty, coupledwith the surgeon and again in 1853 as leader. -
Barry Lawrence Ruderman Antique Maps Inc
Barry Lawrence Ruderman Antique Maps Inc. 7407 La Jolla Boulevard www.raremaps.com (858) 551-8500 La Jolla, CA 92037 [email protected] Karte des Arktischen Archipel's der Parry-Inseln nach den bis zum Jarhe 1855 gewonnenen Resultaten Englisher Aufnahmen gezeichnet von A. Petermann Stock#: 42130 Map Maker: Petermann Date: 1855 Place: Gotha Color: Color Condition: VG Size: 22.5 x 10 inches Price: SOLD Description: Rare German Map of the Northwest Passage Scarce separately-published map of the Arctic Region, extending from Baffin Bay to Banks Straits and Prince Patrick Island. The map was published by August Petermann. Petermann was trained and worked for much of his life in Germany, but he began his cartographic career in Britain (Edinburgh and London) and advised many of the British Arctic expeditions of the 1840s and early 1850s. This interest in exploration is evident, as the map is littered with notes about which explorers first encountered which islands. There is also a color-coded key highlighting the voyages of: Red: Sir Edward E. Belcher -- August 14, 1852 to June 22, 1853 Yellow: G.H. Richarsd & S.H. Osborn -- April 10, 1853 to July 15, 1853 Orange: F.L. McClintock -- Apirl 4, 1853 to July 18, 1853 Blue: G.F. Mecham -- April 4, 1853 to July 6, 1853 Purple: R.V. Hamilton -- April 27 to June 21, 1853. The map also references earlier expeditions. For example, the title of the map references the Parry Islands. These are now known as the Queen Elizabeth Islands. Originally, they were named for British Arctic explorer William Edward Parry who, in 1819, got as far as Melville Island before being blocked by ice. -
Transits of the Northwest Passage to End of the 2020 Navigation Season Atlantic Ocean ↔ Arctic Ocean ↔ Pacific Ocean
TRANSITS OF THE NORTHWEST PASSAGE TO END OF THE 2020 NAVIGATION SEASON ATLANTIC OCEAN ↔ ARCTIC OCEAN ↔ PACIFIC OCEAN R. K. Headland and colleagues 7 April 2021 Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge, Lensfield Road, Cambridge, United Kingdom, CB2 1ER. <[email protected]> The earliest traverse of the Northwest Passage was completed in 1853 starting in the Pacific Ocean to reach the Atlantic Oceam, but used sledges over the sea ice of the central part of Parry Channel. Subsequently the following 319 complete maritime transits of the Northwest Passage have been made to the end of the 2020 navigation season, before winter began and the passage froze. These transits proceed to or from the Atlantic Ocean (Labrador Sea) in or out of the eastern approaches to the Canadian Arctic archipelago (Lancaster Sound or Foxe Basin) then the western approaches (McClure Strait or Amundsen Gulf), across the Beaufort Sea and Chukchi Sea of the Arctic Ocean, through the Bering Strait, from or to the Bering Sea of the Pacific Ocean. The Arctic Circle is crossed near the beginning and the end of all transits except those to or from the central or northern coast of west Greenland. The routes and directions are indicated. Details of submarine transits are not included because only two have been reported (1960 USS Sea Dragon, Capt. George Peabody Steele, westbound on route 1 and 1962 USS Skate, Capt. Joseph Lawrence Skoog, eastbound on route 1). Seven routes have been used for transits of the Northwest Passage with some minor variations (for example through Pond Inlet and Navy Board Inlet) and two composite courses in summers when ice was minimal (marked ‘cp’).