Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

Albert Hastings Markham (1841 1918) was the cousin of the subject of this biography, published in 1917, and greatly admired his older relative, who had acted as his mentor. Clements R. Markham (1830 1916) is remembered as a prolific writer on historical geography, many of whose works are reissued in the Cambridge Library Collection. As a boy, he showed great enthusiasm for both history and exploration, and after a chance encounter with an admiral, joined the navy as a cadet. After eight years, he determined to leave the service and pursue a career as an explorer and writer. His first expedition was to Peru, but his main interest was in the Arctic. As an active member of both the Royal Geographical Society and the Hakluyt Society, he both published accounts of early voyages and urged further exploration in the polar regions, including the 1901 4 Discovery expedition under Robert Scott."

Enhanced by several attractive engravings, this work, first published in 1881, illuminates Arctic exploration in the region of the Novaya Zemlya archipelago, north of the Russian mainland. Naval officer Albert Hastings Markham (1841-1918) summarises previous discoveries and voyages made in the region by various navigators from England, Russia, Norway and elsewhere. He goes on to give an account of his 1879 voyage aboard the Norwegian cutter Isbjoern, offering details of Arctic flora and fauna, topographical and oceanographic features, and navigational difficulties presented by ice. For those interested in the scientific aspects of the expedition, the appendices contain notes and lists, prepared by experts, drawing on the various botanical and zoological specimens that were collected. Also reissued in this series are Markham's A Whaling Cruise to Baffin's Bay (1874), The Great Frozen Sea (1878) and Northward Ho! (1879).

First published in 1874, this illustrated work by Albert Hastings Markham (1841 1918) recounts his experiences aboard the Dundee steam whaler Arctic. Markham also gives an account of the rescue of the crew of the American vessel Polaris, crushed by ice in 1872 during its attempt to reach the North Pole. The work is enhanced by details of meetings with Inuit, encounters with polar wildlife, oceanographic observations, and meteorological events. Appropriately, fellow naval officer and explorer Sherard Osborn (1822 75) wrote the introduction: he had a long interest in Arctic exploration, advocated the benefits of using steam ships in icy waters, and encouraged Markham to embark on the whaling cruise. The appendices include a 'list of birds shot', as well as data on botanical and geological specimens. Also reissued in this series are Markham's The Great Frozen Sea (1878), Northward Ho (1879) and A Polar Reconnaissance (1881)."

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.

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.

The publications of the Hakluyt Society (founded in 1846) made available edited (and sometimes translated) early accounts of exploration. The first series, which ran from 1847 to 1899, consists of 100 books containing published or previously unpublished works by authors from Christopher Columbus to Sir Francis Drake, and covering voyages to the New World, to China and Japan, to Russia and to Africa and India. John Davis (c.1543 1605) was an eminent explorer and navigator who published two highly influential guides to practical navigation in 1594 and 1595 and invented an improved version of a navigational instrument known as the Davis quadrant. This book, first published in 1880, includes these two guides, The Seaman's Secret and The Worlds' Hydrographical Description, together with accounts of the three voyages John Davis undertook in search of the North-West Passage between 1585 and 1587.