SHACKLETON, ERNEST HENRY; L.C. BERNACCHI; APSLEY CHERRY-GARRARD, EDITORS. The South Polar Times.Smith Elder, London, 1907-1914.
A beautiful work in its own right The South Polar Times is part of a tradition of polar printing. Arctic explorers like William Edward Parry pioneered the idea of ship’s newspapers as a way of keeping their crews stimulated during the winter months. During the search for Sir John Franklin these became popular souvenirs of Arctic voyages for the British public and The South Polar Times is a fine entry in this tradition.
DE VEER, GERRIT. The three voyages of William Barents to the Arctic regions, 1594, 1595, and 1596. First edition edited by Charles T. Beke ...1853. Second Edition, with an introduction, by Lieutenant Koolemans Beynen ...Printed for the Hakluyt Society, London, 1876
De Veer’s account of the arduous voyages of William Barents is harrowing and made all the more striking by the wood cuts which accompanied it. Showing the crew fending off polar bears and cutting channels through the ice for small boats they are a testament to the hardship and danger of polar exploration.
SARYTSCHEW, Gawrila [GavriilAndreevich SARYCHEV]. Account of a voyage of discovery to the north-east of Siberia, the frozen ocean, and the north-east sea. J.G. Barnard for Richard Phillips, London, 1806-7
This is a beautiful account of a Russian expedition along the Northeast Passage led by an Englishman, Joseph Billings. Billings had sailed with
Captain James Cook and is an example of how skilled explorers worked across international boundaries, spreading their skills and knowledge around the world. The expedition narrative details encounters with various Arctic indigenous peoples and, perhaps most importantly, it provides an insightful view into the eastward expansion of the Russian economy and state.
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