An Irish officer in the British army, William Francis Butler (1838 1910) travelled widely during a career which took him from India to Africa. In 1867 he made for Canada with his regiment, and he recalls his adventures in this lively account, first published in 1872 to immediate success, and followed by this second edition in the same year. The book covers Butler's risky reconnaissance mission during the Red River Rebellion, during which he met the Metis leader Louis Riel. Later chapters describe subsequent journeys into the sparsely populated Manitoba and Saskatchewan territories, as well as the US states of Illinois, Minnesota and North Dakota. In vivid detail, Butler describes the landscapes and peoples he encountered, including many Native American tribes. This region of North America was later transformed by an influx of settlers, and Butler's work captures the final days of what was then an underexplored wilderness."

A friend of Sir Joseph Banks, and with scientific interests of his own, the naval officer Constantine John Phipps (1744-92) was appointed by the Admiralty in 1773 to command an Arctic expedition in search of a passage to the Pacific. Among the crew was a young Horatio Nelson and a freed slave, Olaudah Equiano, who became the first African to visit the Arctic. Although unsuccessful in its primary aim, the voyage is noteworthy for Phipps' description of the polar bear as a distinct species, and for being a naval voyage on which research was deemed as crucial as exploration. Following the publication of this account in 1774, the Gentleman's Magazine commented that 'there has not appeared a voyage in any language so replete with nautical information, nor in which the mariner and philosopher can find such liberal entertainment'. Illustrated throughout, the work includes a substantial appendix containing the scientific data.

Originally published in 1933, this book is a collection of extracts from the letters and diaries of British doctor, ornithologist and explorer Alexander Wollaston, beginning with the end of his schooldays at Clifton in 1893 and ending a year before his murder in 1930. Wollaston's papers give an intimate view into his various expeditions to a wide variety of locations, including Everest and New Guinea. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in the history of exploration or in Wollaston and his legacy.

Despite Holland's rich history as a major maritime power, by the time this work first appeared in 1876 the Dutch had long abandoned their exploration of the Arctic Circle. In this detailed study, noting the achievements of Dutch navigators, Samuel Richard van Campen (c.1833-c.1893) makes the case for new expeditions into the north, not only to investigate the possibility of Arctic passages to America and Asia, but also to pursue scientific research. The author delineates potential routes and difficulties, discusses ocean conditions, and examines both historical and contemporary expeditions for flaws and successes. The book also includes as an appendix a chronological table of Arctic expeditions ranging from ninth-century Viking endeavours to Allen Young's 1876 voyage. Reissued here is the second edition of 1877, which does not differ textually from the first. Despite the author's intention to continue the work, a second volume never appeared.

In the mid-nineteenth century, the northern coastline of North America was of particular interest to the Hudson's Bay Company as it was believed to hold the key to the elusive North-West Passage, a trade route from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Recruited to lead a team to survey part of this forbidding region, the Scottish explorer John Rae (1813-93) undertook his first expedition during 1846-7. It was remarkable not only for its success, but also because Rae's was the first crew to overwinter in the Arctic. Unlike other Victorian explorers, Rae embraced the culture of the Inuit and learnt to live off the land like them, which enabled him to complete his survey. First published in 1850, this journal relates the details of his journey as well as how he and his men survived the extreme conditions. It remains a valuable document in the history of Arctic exploration.

The surgeon, naturalist and Arctic explorer Sir John Richardson (1787 1865) was a lifelong friend to his former commander Sir John Franklin, with whom he had twice travelled to seek the North-West Passage. Following two years of silence from Franklin after he embarked on his 1845 expedition to the Arctic, Richardson set out on his own voyage in the hope of finding his comrade. Originally published in 1851, this two-volume work charts the journey which would inevitably fail in its ambition: Franklin, unknown to Richardson, had already died in June 1847. Volume 1, which depicts the journey to Fort Confidence in the Canadian Arctic, ends with detailed descriptions of the aboriginal Inuit and Gwich'in peoples encountered. The text is punctuated throughout by accounts of the wildlife and geographical features sighted, and the customs and cultures observed on this remarkable mission.

The surgeon, naturalist and Arctic explorer Sir John Richardson (1787 1865) was a lifelong friend to his former commander Sir John Franklin, with whom he had twice travelled to seek the North-West Passage. Following two years of silence from Franklin after he embarked on his 1845 expedition to the Arctic, Richardson set out on his own voyage in the hope of finding his comrade. Originally published in 1851, this two-volume work charts the journey which would inevitably fail in its ambition: Franklin, unknown to Richardson, had already died in June 1847. Volume 2 begins with detailed descriptions of the aboriginal Chipewyan and Cree peoples. A thorough appendix comprises observations on physical geography, climatology and the geographical distribution of plants, and includes vocabularies for the dialects encountered during the mission. The text ends, Richardson having returned, with the hope that future expeditions may yet trace 'so many gallant victims to science'.

Born Adventurer tells the story of Frank Bickerton (1889-1954), the British engineer on Sir Douglas Mawson's Australasian Antarctic Expedition of 1911-14. The expedition gave birth to what Sir Ranulph Fiennes has called 'one of the greatest accounts of polar survival in history' and surveyed for the first time the 2,000-mile stretch of coast around Cape Denison, which later became Adelie Land. The MBE was, however, only one episode in a rich and colourful career. Bickerton accompanied the ill-fated Aeneas Mackintosh on a treasure island hunt to R.L. Stevenson's Treasure Island, was involved with the early stages of Sir Ernest Shackleton's ill-fated Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, and tested 'wingless aeroplanes' in Norway. Born Adventurer follows him through his many experiences, from his flying career in the First World War to his time in California, mixing with the aristocracy of the Hollywood and sporting worlds, and from his safaris in Africa to his distinguished career as an editor and screenplay writer at Shepperton Studios. Stephen Haddelsey draws on unique access to family papers and Bickerton's journals and letters to give us a rich and full account of this incredible adventurer and colourful man.

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.

Sir John Ross (1777-1856), the distinguished British naval officer and Arctic explorer, undertook three great voyages to the Arctic regions; accounts of his first and his second voyages are also reissued in this series. (During the latter, his ship was stranded in the unexplored area of Prince Regent Inlet, where Ross and his crew survived by living and eating as the local Inuit did.) In this volume, first published in 1855, the explorer describes his experiences during his third (privately funded) Arctic voyage, undertaken in 1850 as part of the effort to locate the missing expedition led by Sir John Franklin, his close friend. Ross also summarises in partisan style the previous efforts by the Royal Navy to find out what happened to the Erebus and Terror, and is scathing in his account of what he regards as the mismanagement and incompetence of the Admiralty.

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 1, Seemann arrives in Panama, only to find that the Herald is not yet in port; he uses the time to explore the Isthmus, the narrow strip of land that lies between the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, and in the process discovers a number of new plants.

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.

Richard Biddle (1796-1847), an American politician and lawyer, published this work on the life of the explorer and cartographer, Sebastian Cabot (c.1481-1557), anonymously in 1831. He was responding to widespread criticisms of Cabot - allegedly an unscrupulous character who played the governments of England and Spain to his own ends. The work includes notes on Sebastian's discoveries on the North American continent along with his father, John, and his search for the North-West Passage. As a governor of the Muscovy Company, Cabot initiated the expansion of English trade to Russia and the East. Cabot's own accounts of his journeys have been lost; therefore, Biddle's research is derived from other sources, particularly the writings of Richard Hakylut (c.1552-1616). This study was recognised at the time as the best review of the history of maritime discovery in the period treated, and prompted further research into the Cabot legacies.

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.

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 U.S. 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 U.S. 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.

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.

Scottish explorer and author James Baillie Fraser (1783-1856) published this account of his Himalayan journey through Nepal and India in 1820. (His 1826 book describing his travels in the lesser-known provinces of Persia is also reissued in this series.) Part I begins with a historical sketch of Nepal, the reasons for the outbreak of war between Nepal and British India in 1814 and the course and consequences of the war. The remainder of the book describes Fraser's travels through previously inaccessible mountainous areas to Jamunotri and Gangotri, the sources of the rivers Jumna and Ganges. Fraser admits in his preface that he is not an expert in any of the fields which would give his account scientific value, but he offers detailed descriptions of villages, temples and 'grand scenery', and of a people 'as they appeared before an intercourse with Europeans had in any degree changed them'.

Sir Clements Robert Markham (1830 1916) had a lifelong interest in Peru. Having already travelled there in his early twenties, he was commissioned to return ten years later to supervise the collection of sufficient specimens of the cinchona tree for its introduction to India. The bark of the tree yielded quinine, by then a well-known febrifuge and one of the few effective treatments for malaria. This book, originally published in 1862, is Markham's personal account of his travels. His story moves from the misty heights of the Peruvian mountains, where he suffered from altitude sickness, to the Malabar coastline and its complex, remarkable caste system. Markham also includes a detailed history of the use of cinchona bark, both by Europeans and aboriginal Peruvians, and a discussion of Incan culture since the arrival of the Spanish. His work is still a valuable resource for students of scientific and colonial history.

In May 1845, the famous Arctic explorer John Franklin (1786-1847) embarked on another attempt to find the elusive North-West Passage. He never returned from this voyage, and was last seen by whalers in Baffin Bay in July 1845. Some thirty rescue missions were launched between 1847 and 1859 to find the missing men. Franklin was not the first explorer to make the dangerous voyage to find the route connecting the Atlantic and Pacific, and journalist Peter Lund Simmonds (1814-97) draws from a wide range of reports and publications about these expeditions in his history of the search for the North-West Passage, published in 1851. The detailed account also includes descriptions of the many missions to find Franklin, and this second edition was published later in the same year as the first in order to include updated reports on the progress of his rescue.

British naval officer James Colnett (1753-1806) served on many voyages during his career. He was a midshipman on Captain Cook's second voyage, and in 1774, he was first to sight New Caledonia, which led to Cook naming Cape Colnett after him. Later in his career, he was in command of the fur-trading expedition that resulted in the Nootka Crisis and near-war between Spain and England. In this book, first published in 1798, Colnett gives an account of the voyage he commanded to the Antarctic in 1793. The expedition's success at charting suitable places for ships to anchor was instrumental to the development of the whaling industry in the area. This book contains accounts and maps of the islands and coastlands visited during the expedition. Among the islands visited were the Galapagos Islands, and Charles Darwin is known to have had a copy of this book on HMS Beagle.

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.

In 1879, the steamer Jeannette went missing near Alaska. It had been sent by the American Navy in search of a missing Swedish expedition. Having become trapped in ice, the ship was not heard from for almost two years, when her remaining crew finally reached safety. By this time, any American expedition that focused its efforts further north than the sixtieth parallel was usually considered to be within the Arctic, and these invariably perilous expeditions were often launched in search of lost ships. In 1884, Joseph Everett Nourse (1819 89) published details of all the major American expeditions, including the efforts to rescue the Jeannette, Hayes's attempt to prove the existence of the Open Polar Sea, and Schwatka's 3,000-mile sledge journey across the tundra. Written to make the journals of explorers more accessible to young readers, Nourse's comprehensive text is still of relevance to students of American maritime history.

The 1839-43 Antarctic expedition was primarily a scientific voyage. James Clark Ross, a member of the expedition that had located the Magnetic North Pole in 1831, was the natural choice to lead this mission to find the Magnetic South Pole. Although he was unsuccessful in this aim, he charted the coastline of most of the continent, collected valuable scientific data and made several important discoveries. Published in 1840, these papers were prepared by the Royal Society for the expedition and give detailed instructions on how to make the important magnetic and meteorological observations. There are further instructions, such as how to preserve animal specimens, and surprisingly a request to investigate the reasons for the poor cultivation of vines at the Cape of Good Hope as 'the bad quality of Cape wine ... is well known'. These papers reveal the expectations and demands placed upon this expedition.

George W. De Long (1844-81) was a US Navy officer who set out to find a new route to the North Pole via the Bering Strait. During his voyage, which left San Francisco in 1879, he claimed the De Long Islands for the USA. But when his vessel, the Jeannette, sank, the crew abandoned ship, and he eventually died of starvation in Siberia. Compiled by his wife from his journals and the testimony of the survivors, these two volumes document De Long's doomed expedition. First published in 1883, Volume 2 records the Jeannette's final wreckage, and the crew's continuation of their perilous mission in smaller boats. It concludes with the discovery of De Long's records, and later his remains, by surviving crew member George Melville. Providing a vivid account of nineteenth-century Polar exploration, it remains of great interest to scholars of geography and maritime studies.