In 1860, naval officer Sherard Osborn (1822 75), a veteran of both Opium Wars, published this collection of remarks and predictions on Chinese affairs in relation to British imperial interests. Osborn writes in forthright style of his time in the East and his negative experiences of Chinese diplomacy to support his view that 'the European has ever to use force rather than argument to obtain his ends in China, be they however moderate, however just'. He also sets out some advice on how to prevent British smugglers from taking advantage of the Chinese. A number of Osborn's other publications are also reissued in the Cambridge Library Collection, including Stray Leaves from an Arctic Journal (1852), The Discovery of the North-West Passage by HMS Investigator (1856), and The Career, Last Voyage, and Fate of Captain Sir John Franklin (1860)."

The disappearance of Sir John Franklin's Arctic expedition of 1845 led to many rescue attempts, some by the British government, and some by private individuals. This short 1860 account of Franklin's life and of the search for him was written by the experienced naval officer Sherard Osborn (several of whose other works have been reissued in this series) with a view to inspiring the youth of Britain to follow the great explorer's example of duty and rectitude. Osborn (1822 75) had begun his naval career in the Far East, but was a pioneering commander of steam-powered ships, and his performance in the steam tender HMS Pioneer in the 1850 rescue expedition confirmed the efficiency of this new technology in icy waters. Decorated for his role in the Crimean War, and later active in railway and telegraph technology, he continued to take an interest in Arctic exploration, and in steamships, until his death."

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.

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)."

By the middle of the nineteenth century, the North-West Passage, a trade route from the Atlantic to the Pacific, had been sought for centuries without success. The Franklin expedition of 1845 became the latest victim, and Irish naval officer Sir Robert John Le Mesurier McClure (1807-73) took part in the attempts to ascertain its fate. His ship, H.M.S. Investigator, spent the years 1850-4 in the Arctic, and in the course of their search for the lost expedition, the crew discovered the North-West Passage. Upon his return to England, following the loss of the Investigator to pack ice, McClure handed over his journals to author and fellow officer Sherard Osborn (1822-75), who prepared this narrative of the pioneering expedition. First published in 1856, the work remains a compelling account of Arctic exploration, revealing how McClure and his men survived four forbidding winters.

Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.