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.

Son of an Arctic whaler, William Scoresby (1789-1857) made the first of many voyages to northern latitudes when he was just ten years old. Later a scientist and clergyman, he wrote on a wide range of topics, and his observations on the Arctic prompted further exploration of the region. He published some of his accounts under the generic title 'Memorials of the Sea' (his 1835 notes on murder at sea and on the fate of the Franklin expedition have also been reissued in this series). In this 1851 book, Scoresby recounts the life of his father, also William (1760-1829), from his earliest days to his later life as a prosperous captain and exceptional navigator in the Arctic whale-fisheries, at a time when the industry gave rise to extreme danger but also offered enormous financial rewards. William, Jr's biography is also available in the Cambridge Library Collection.