Following distinguished naval service during the Napoleonic Wars, Edward Chappell (1792-1861) took part in two voyages patrolling British fisheries in North America. The second of these, in 1814, is recounted in this journal, first published in 1817. Illustrated with several engravings, Chappell's narrative dwells in particular upon the Inuit, who were little understood by Europeans at the time. Knowing only a few Inuit words, Chappell traded with them and was admitted to their homes. Though somewhat superficial and patronising, his descriptions revised previous accounts and brought new information to English readers. The rest of the journal brims with evocative anecdotes from the journey - a polar bear sighting, a thunderstorm on an ice-ridden sea, a meeting with a renowned Native American chieftain. The appendices provide such additional information as navigational data, details of Inuit dress, and a short vocabulary of the Cree language.

One of the leading Arctic navigators of his age, William Edward Parry (1790 1855) led three expeditions in search of the North-West Passage (accounts of which are also reissued in this series). Parry's early career had been spent protecting the whaling fleet of Spitsbergen and this experience led him in 1826 to propose to the Admiralty an expedition to the North Pole. In order to reach further north than earlier attempts, Parry used sledge-boats that could be towed over the ice on runners, and then take to any open sea that the crew encountered. In 1827 the expedition attained a record latitude that stood for nearly fifty years. This illustrated account, published in 1828, was described by the Quarterly Review as a record of 'the patient, persevering, energetic, and undaunted conduct which British seamen are capable of displaying, in the most difficult, discouraging, and dangerous circumstances'."

This 1898 English translation of a popular 1895 Norwegian work provides a valuable first-hand account of Arctic exploration in Greenland. Elvind Astrup (1871 95) took part in the expeditions led by the American explorer Robert Peary (1856 1920) between 1891 and 1894. Another of Astrup's shipmates during this time was Frederick Cook (1865 1940), who would later claim to be the first man to have reached the North Pole. Astrup gives here a short narrative of the expeditions, yet the real appeal of his work lies in its vivid descriptions of life on the ice - not merely that of the explorers, but crucially that of the Inuit, whose survival skills and techniques were later to prove invaluable during Peary's own drive towards the Pole. Numerous illustrations are spread throughout the text, based on sketches and photographs taken during the expeditions."

By 1820, the explorer William Parry had managed to traverse half of the North-West Passage. For his second attempt in 1821-3, he was accompanied by George Francis Lyon (1795-1832), who captained HMS Hecla. Parry and Lyon ultimately failed to get beyond Fury and Hecla Strait - named for the expedition's ships - because of heavy ice. This, together with the onset of scurvy, brought about their return to England. First published in 1824, Lyon's journal provides details of the region's natural history and its ice conditions as well as some of the most perceptive early commentary on the Inuit of Baffin Island and Melville Peninsula. Lyon struck up a rapport with these people, even allowing them to tattoo him. Living among the Inuit, Lyon observed their customs, their clothing, their diet, and their hunting activities. Several engravings of the author's sketches enhance the value of the work.

This well-illustrated account of polar exploration was originally published in Norway in 1903, and in this two-volume English translation in 1904. It tells the story of the four years spent by Otto Sverdrup (1854 1930) and his crew in surveying and charting the seas and coastlines of the Arctic. Sverdrup had qualified as a ship's master when he first met Fridtjof Nansen, whose Greenland expedition of 1888 he accompanied. He advised on the construction of Nansen's wooden ship, the Fram, and became its master in 1895. Both with Nansen and under his own leadership, he undertook many expeditions. In June 1898, he took the Fram and a crew including several scientists to Ellesmere Island in the Canadian Arctic, where they overwintered for four years. Volume 1 describes the life and work of the first two years, including extensive trips away from the Fram, both on land and on the ice."

Richard Hakluyt (1552?-1616) was fascinated from his earliest years by stories of strange lands and voyages of exploration. A priest by profession, he was also an indefatigable editor and translator of geographical accounts, and a propagandist for English expeditions to claim new lands, especially in the Americas. His most famous work was first published in 1589, and expanded in 1598-1600: reissued here is the twelve-volume edition prepared by the Scottish firm of James MacLehose and Sons and first published between 1903 and 1905, which included introductory essays and notes. Hakluyt's subjects range from transcriptions of personal accounts and 'ruttiers' (descriptive charts of voyages) to patriotic attacks against rival nations (especially Spain). Volume 1 contains Hakluyt's 'Epistles Dedicatory' and letters to the reader, followed by accounts of voyages to the 'north and northeast quarters'.

Richard Hakluyt (1552?-1616) was fascinated from his earliest years by stories of strange lands and voyages of exploration. A priest by profession, he was also an indefatigable editor and translator of geographical accounts, and a propagandist for English expeditions to claim new lands, especially in the Americas. His most famous work was first published in 1589, and expanded in 1598-1600: reissued here is the twelve-volume edition prepared by the Scottish firm of James MacLehose and Sons and first published between 1903 and 1905, which included introductory essays and notes. Hakluyt's subjects range from transcriptions of personal accounts and 'ruttiers' (descriptive charts of voyages) to patriotic attacks against rival nations (especially Spain). Volume 2 contains accounts of voyages to the north and north-east, including historical information about Prussia and the Hanseatic towns, and their trade and diplomatic relations with England, in the late medieval period.

Richard Hakluyt (1552?-1616) was fascinated from his earliest years by stories of strange lands and voyages of exploration. A priest by profession, he was also an indefatigable editor and translator of geographical accounts, and a propagandist for English expeditions to claim new lands, especially in the Americas. His most famous work was first published in 1589, and expanded in 1598-1600: reissued here is the twelve-volume edition prepared by the Scottish firm of James MacLehose and Sons and first published between 1903 and 1905, which included introductory essays and notes. Hakluyt's subjects range from transcriptions of personal accounts and 'ruttiers' (descriptive charts of voyages) to patriotic attacks against rival nations (especially Spain). Volume 3 contains accounts of travels to Russia and Persia, and the activities of the Muscovy Company, especially the celebrated merchant and traveller Anthony Jenkinson, who was entertained at the court of Ivan the Terrible in 1558.

Richard Hakluyt (1552?-1616) was fascinated from his earliest years by stories of strange lands and voyages of exploration. A priest by profession, he was also an indefatigable editor and translator of geographical accounts, and a propagandist for English expeditions to claim new lands, especially in the Americas. His most famous work was first published in 1589, and expanded in 1598-1600: reissued here is the twelve-volume edition prepared by the Scottish firm of James MacLehose and Sons and first published between 1903 and 1905, which included introductory essays and notes. Hakluyt's subjects range from transcriptions of personal accounts and 'ruttiers' (descriptive charts of voyages) to patriotic attacks against rival nations (especially Spain). Volume 4 includes accounts ranging from the legendary journey of St Helena, the mother of Constantine, from Britain to Jerusalem, to medieval pilgrimages to the Holy Land, to the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588.

Richard Hakluyt (1552?-1616) was fascinated from his earliest years by stories of strange lands and voyages of exploration. A priest by profession, he was also an indefatigable editor and translator of geographical accounts, and a propagandist for English expeditions to claim new lands, especially in the Americas. His most famous work was first published in 1589, and expanded in 1598-1600: reissued here is the twelve-volume edition prepared by the Scottish firm of James MacLehose and Sons and first published between 1903 and 1905, which included introductory essays and notes. Hakluyt's subjects range from transcriptions of personal accounts and 'ruttiers' (descriptive charts of voyages) to patriotic attacks against rival nations (especially Spain). Volume 5 contains accounts of voyages to the Mediterranean and the Levant, including a history of the great siege of Rhodes in 1522 by the troops of Suleiman the Magnificent.

Richard Hakluyt (1552?-1616) was fascinated from his earliest years by stories of strange lands and voyages of exploration. A priest by profession, he was also an indefatigable editor and translator of geographical accounts, and a propagandist for English expeditions to claim new lands, especially in the Americas. His most famous work was first published in 1589, and expanded in 1598-1600: reissued here is the twelve-volume edition prepared by the Scottish firm of James MacLehose and Sons and first published between 1903 and 1905, which included introductory essays and notes. Hakluyt's subjects range from transcriptions of personal accounts and 'ruttiers' (descriptive charts of voyages) to patriotic attacks against rival nations (especially Spain). Volume 6 contains voyages made 'to the South and South-east quarters', including Syria, India, Japan and the East Indies.

Richard Hakluyt (1552?-1616) was fascinated from his earliest years by stories of strange lands and voyages of exploration. A priest by profession, he was also an indefatigable editor and translator of geographical accounts, and a propagandist for English expeditions to claim new lands, especially in the Americas. His most famous work was first published in 1589, and expanded in 1598-1600: reissued here is the twelve-volume edition prepared by the Scottish firm of James MacLehose and Sons and first published between 1903 and 1905, which included introductory essays and notes. Hakluyt's subjects range from transcriptions of personal accounts and 'ruttiers' (descriptive charts of voyages) to patriotic attacks against rival nations (especially Spain). Volume 7 contains accounts of journeys to the south and south-east (including the legendary voyage of the Welsh prince Madoc), and also gives reports of voyages by Frobisher and John Davis in search of the North-West Passage.

Richard Hakluyt (1552?-1616) was fascinated from his earliest years by stories of strange lands and voyages of exploration. A priest by profession, he was also an indefatigable editor and translator of geographical accounts, and a propagandist for English expeditions to claim new lands, especially in the Americas. His most famous work was first published in 1589, and expanded in 1598-1600: reissued here is the twelve-volume edition prepared by the Scottish firm of James MacLehose and Sons and first published between 1903 and 1905, which included introductory essays and notes. Hakluyt's subjects range from transcriptions of personal accounts and 'ruttiers' (descriptive charts of voyages) to patriotic attacks against rival nations (especially Spain). Volume 9 contains voyages to Florida, Mexico and California, and includes an account of the 'strange crook-backed oxen, the great sheepe, and the mighty dogs of Quivira'.

Richard Hakluyt (1552?-1616) was fascinated from his earliest years by stories of strange lands and voyages of exploration. A priest by profession, he was also an indefatigable editor and translator of geographical accounts, and a propagandist for English expeditions to claim new lands, especially in the Americas. His most famous work was first published in 1589, and expanded in 1598-1600: reissued here is the twelve-volume edition prepared by the Scottish firm of James MacLehose and Sons and first published between 1903 and 1905, which included introductory essays and notes. Hakluyt's subjects range from transcriptions of personal accounts and 'ruttiers' (descriptive charts of voyages) to patriotic attacks against rival nations (especially Spain). Volume 10 contains material relevant to the voyages 'for the discovery of the large, rich, and beautifull Empire of Guiana' as well as voyages to the Caribbean and other parts of South America.

Richard Hakluyt (1552?-1616) was fascinated from his earliest years by stories of strange lands and voyages of exploration. A priest by profession, he was also an indefatigable editor and translator of geographical accounts, and a propagandist for English expeditions to claim new lands, especially in the Americas. His most famous work was first published in 1589, and expanded in 1598-1600: reissued here is the twelve-volume edition prepared by the Scottish firm of James MacLehose and Sons and first published between 1903 and 1905, which included introductory essays and notes. Hakluyt's subjects range from transcriptions of personal accounts and 'ruttiers' (descriptive charts of voyages) to patriotic attacks against rival nations (especially Spain). Volume 11 contains accounts of Brazil, the Straits of Magellan, the South Seas, and circumnavigations, and includes a letter written by Queen Elizabeth to the emperor of China.

Richard Hakluyt (1552?-1616) was fascinated from his earliest years by stories of strange lands and voyages of exploration. A priest by profession, he was also an indefatigable editor and translator of geographical accounts, and a propagandist for English expeditions to claim new lands, especially in the Americas. His most famous work was first published in 1589, and expanded in 1598-1600: reissued here is the twelve-volume edition prepared by the Scottish firm of James MacLehose and Sons and first published between 1903 and 1905, which included introductory essays and notes. Hakluyt's subjects range from transcriptions of personal accounts and 'ruttiers' (descriptive charts of voyages) to patriotic attacks against rival nations (especially Spain). Volume 12 contains an essay on sixteenth-century voyages by the scholar Walter Raleigh (1861-1922), a general index to all the volumes, and an index to the individual ships referred to.

Richard Hakluyt (1552?-1616) was fascinated from his earliest years by stories of strange lands and voyages of exploration. A priest by profession, he was also an indefatigable editor and translator of geographical accounts, and a propagandist for English expeditions to claim new lands, especially in the Americas. His most famous work was first published in 1589, and expanded in 1598-1600: reissued here is the twelve-volume edition prepared by the Scottish firm of James MacLehose and Sons and first published between 1903 and 1905, which included introductory essays and notes. Hakluyt's subjects range from transcriptions of personal accounts and 'ruttiers' (descriptive charts of voyages) to patriotic attacks against rival nations (especially Spain). Volume 8 contains voyages to the east coast of North America, from Newfoundland and Canada to Florida, and includes 'a discourse of the necessitie and commoditie of planting English colonies upon the North partes of America'.

Prior to his disappearance in the Arctic during an airborne rescue mission, the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen (1872 1928) had reflected in writing on his extraordinary career. First published in 1927 and reissued here in the English translation of that year, his autobiography discusses in straightforward style the numerous difficulties of his many expeditions, ranging from problems of finance and planning through to dealing with life-threatening danger and inevitable controversy. Generously acknowledging an 'old gentleman in Grimsby' for providing materials that helped him plan the first navigation of the North-West Passage, Amundsen credits painstaking preparation as the cornerstone of his success, especially in the conquest of the South Pole. His fuller accounts of these two expeditions are also reissued in the Cambridge Library Collection. Frank and focused like its author, the present work will reveal to readers the outlook and approach of a remarkable figure in the history of polar exploration."

Despite the fact that his previous trip to the Arctic had left him gravely ill and with a permanently injured foot, the explorer and physician Isaac Israel Hayes (1832 81) immediately proclaimed his desire to return north. In 1869, aboard the steamer Panther, he was granted his wish. The trip was financed by the artist William Bradford (1823 92), who planned to use it as an opportunity to paint and photograph Greenland. First published in 1871, this account gives the reader the opportunity to survey the landscape, touching also on the history of polar exploration. It is illustrated with a number of engravings. Also reissued in the Cambridge Library Collection are An Arctic Boat-Journey in the Autumn of 1854 (1860), Hayes's account of a gruelling episode during the ill-fated second Grinnell expedition in search of Sir John Franklin, and The Open Polar Sea (1867)."

In August 1913, the explorer and scientist Fridtjof Nansen (1861 1930), who later received the Nobel Peace Prize for his humanitarian work, set off from Norway to find a sea route across the north of the Eurasian continent. This 'north-east passage' had been the goal of explorers since the sixteenth century, but Nansen's object, as he puts it, was 'to open up a regular trade connexion with the interior of Siberia, via the Kara Sea and the mouth of the Yenisei'. By the time the book was published in English translation in 1914, the First World War had begun, and the need for ways to keep supplies and troops moving between Russia and her western allies made it even more timely. Nansen's delightfully written account of 'the land of the future' remains of value to anyone seeking to find out more about the geography, resources, and native peoples of Siberia."

Having participated in a rescue mission to aid John Ross in the Arctic in the 1830s, traveller and surgeon Richard King (1810/11 76) considered himself qualified to suggest where the missing expedition of Sir John Franklin, which had set off in 1845, could be found. In his letters to periodicals, government ministers and the Admiralty, published in this collection in 1855, King argues that the missing party would be located near the mouth of the Great Fish River. He volunteered to lead a search expedition, but was ignored. By 1859, remains of the Franklin party had been discovered near to where King said they would be. These letters tell the story of his campaign, throwing light on an interesting chapter in the history of polar exploration and the understanding of the Canadian Arctic. Several other works on Franklin's last expedition and the subsequent searches are also reissued in this series."

Accounts of the earliest exploration of the Arctic are scattered through many literatures. In writing this work, reissued here in the two-volume English translation of 1911, the celebrated Norwegian explorer Fridtjof Nansen (1861 1930) returned to many of the original sources. Calling on others to help him interpret texts in several languages, Nansen begins his account with the first mentions of the Arctic in Greek literature and ends with voyages of the sixteenth century. He notably questions some of the traditional history based on Norse sagas. Each volume contains lengthy quotations from little-known documents, making much valuable information accessible to non-specialists. Volume 1 begins in antiquity and, after presenting maps and legends of the Middle Ages, turns to the voyages of the Norsemen to Iceland and Greenland. The final part deals with the possible discovery of North America or Vinland."

Accounts of the earliest exploration of the Arctic are scattered through many literatures. In writing this work, reissued here in the two-volume English translation of 1911, the celebrated Norwegian explorer Fridtjof Nansen (1861 1930) returned to many of the original sources. Calling on others to help him interpret texts in several languages, Nansen begins his account with the first mentions of the Arctic in Greek literature and ends with voyages of the sixteenth century. He notably questions some of the traditional history based on Norse sagas. Each volume contains lengthy quotations from little-known documents, making much valuable information accessible to non-specialists. Volume 2 continues from the discovery of North America through the explorations of the Inuit to the decline of the settlements in Greenland. Nansen describes early Norwegian explorations, considers the maps available to early explorers, and closes with the discoveries made by Cabot and the Portuguese."

By the middle of the nineteenth century, the goal of the North-West Passage had claimed the lives of many explorers, yet the disappearance of the expedition led by Sir John Franklin occasioned the greatest response. Naval officer Sherard Osborn (1822-75) took part in the search mission of 1850-1 under Horatio Thomas Austin. Osborn was appointed to command the Pioneer, one of two steam tenders on the voyage. This was the first time such vessels had been deployed in the punishing conditions of the Arctic. Such was their success in cutting through ice and navigating the treacherous waters that similar models were later adopted by the whaling fleet. The present work, first published in 1852, gives a compelling account of the hardships of the expedition, which was successful in its surveying work and confirmed that Franklin had not been lost in Baffin Bay.

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."