Original documents and cuttings from published material relating to various explorers

Date:
1761-1920
Reference:
MS.7486
Part of:
Polar Exploration: Townsend Thorndike Collection
  • Archives and manuscripts

Collection contents

About this work

Description

Comprises the following:

  • MS.7486/1: Duke of Abruzzi (1873-1933); HRH Luigi Amedeo, Prince of Savoy-Aosta, Duke of the Abruzzi (1873-1933), Italian explorer and mountaineer: 1 autograph card. Late 19th century - early 20th century.
  • MS.7486/2: John Adams (fl. 1885); 1 autograph letter, signed. 1885.
  • MS.7486/3: Roald Amundsen (1872-1928); Article, "The Conquest of the Northwest Passage" by Amundsen, from Collier's Magazine . 1906.
  • MS.7486/4: Admiral Sir George Back F.R.S. (1796-1878); Admission ticket to Museum of the United Service Institution signed by Back, and portrait engraving, mounted together. 19th century.
  • MS.7486/5: Sir Joseph Banks (1743-1820), naturalist and traveller; Review of The Life of Sir Joseph Banks by Edward Smith, from the Times Literary Supplement . 1911.
  • MS.7486/6: Sir Francis Thornhill Baring (1796-1866); Sir Francis Thornhill Baring (1796-1866), later Lord Northbrook, statesman and later 1st Lord of the Admiralty: 1 autograph letter, signed. 1833.
  • MS.7486/7: Rear-Admiral Sir Francis Beaufort (1774-1857); 1 autograph letter, signed, to "Dear Ross", either Sir John Ross (1877-1856) or his nephew and shipmate Sir James Clark Ross (1800-1862). mid 19th century.
  • MS.7486/8: Admiral [Frederick] William Beechey (1796-1856), Arctic explorer; 1 autograph letter, signed. 19th century.
  • MS.7486/9: Umberto Cagni (1863-1932); Captain Umberto Cagni (1863-1932), achiever of the "Farthest North" record on the Abruzzi expedition: 1 autograph card, signed. 1890.
  • MS.7486/10: Sir Richard Collinson (1811-1883), commander of a Franklin search expedition; 1 autograph letter in the third person. 1881.
  • MS.7486/11: Sir [William] Martin Conway (1856-1937); Sir [William] Martin Conway (1856-1937), mountaineer, explorer of Spitsbergen and art historian: 1 autograph letter, signed. 1895.
  • MS.7486/12-14: Dr. Frederick Cook (1865-1940); Dr. Frederick Cook (1865-1940): manuscript text summarising Cook's Arctic Expedition of 1894, to accompany photographs from the journey, n.d. (no.12); map contesting Cook's claim to have reached the North Pole in 1908, entered in the Library of Congress by the Peary Arctic Club, 1909 (no.13); pamphlet, "The North Pole Aftermath" by Congressman S.D. Fess of Ohio, attacking Cook's claim to have beaten Peary to the Pole, 1915 (no.14). c.1908-1915.
  • MS.7486/15-16: James Cook (1728-1779), circumnavigator; Autograph letters, signed, by the physician Sir George Baker F.R.C.P. (1722-1809) concerning a medal to be struck in Cook's honour, 1780 (no.15), and the naturalist Johann Reinhard Forster (1729-1798), member of Cook's expedition, 1789 (no.16). 1780-1789.
  • MS.7486/17: Edwin J. De Haven (1816-1865), commander of first American Franklin relief expedition; 1 autograph order, signed and counter-signed, concerning destruction of spoiled supplies. 1846.
  • MS.7486/18-19: Arthur Dobbs (1689-1765), Governor of North Carolina and Arctic explorer; Official record of stores issued by the Office of Ordnance to the Dobbs expedition in search of the North-West Passage, 1746 (no.18); letters patent granting land in New Hanover County, North Carolina, to John Wingate, signed by Arthur Dobbs as Governor, 1761 (no.19). 1746-1761.
  • MS.7486/20-21: Anthony Fiala (b. 1869), leader of the 1903-1905 second Ziegler expedition; Photograph, from the National Geographic Magazine , of the second Ziegler expedition on the Polar pack, autographed by Fiala, c. 1912 (no.20); article by Fiala, "The Man in the Parka", from Boys' Life , the magazine of the Boy Scouts of America, 1913 (no.21). c.1912.
  • MS.7486/22: Jane, Lady Franklin (1792-1875); Jane, Lady Franklin, née Griffin (1792-1875), second wife of Sir John Franklin and organiser of attempts to rescue the final Franklin expedition: 1 autograph letter, signed. 1836.
  • MS.7486/23-24: Sir John Franklin (1786-1847), Arctic explorer; 1 autograph letter, signed, to the scientist Michael Faraday (1791-1867), n.d. (no.23); sketch-map of the then-known north Canadian coast, from Icy Cape to Prince Regent Inlet, illustrating the planned overland journey by Franklin and John Richardson (1787-1865), 1824 (no.24). c.1824.
  • MS.7486/25-27: Adolphus Greely (1844-1935), leader of the 1881-1884 U.S. expedition to Lady Franklin Bay; 2 autograph letters, signed, 1894 (nos.25-26); front dustjacket from True Tales of Arctic Heroism in the New World , by Greely, n.d. (no.27). c.1894.
  • MS.7486/28: Moses H. Grinnell (1803-1877), shipping magnate, philanthropist and joint promoter of the 1853-1855 Kane expedition; 1 autograph letter, signed. 1861.
  • MS.7486/29-42: Charles Francis Hall (1821-1871); Map of Frobisher Bay area marking Hall's discoveries in 1860-1862, n.d. (no.29); letter by Hall, 1864 (no.30); letter from Hall's Inuit companions Ebierbing ("Joe") and Tookolito ("Hannah") to "Mr. Grinnell" (which member of the Grinnell family, several of whom were promoters of Arctic exploration, is unclear), 1870, letter from "Hannah" to her mother, n.d., and Hall's signature, n.d., all mounted together (no.31); letter to Dr. Emil Bessels, chief scientist on Hall's last expedition on the Polaris, from Charles Schott of the U.S. Coast Survey, with map of Smith Sound area, 1871 (no.32); letter from Hall to Bessels shortly before departure, 1871 (no.33); note from New York Navy Yard dated on the day of Hall's departure, 1871 (no.34); list of articles ordered by the U.S. Navy for Hall expedition, c. 1871 (no.35); list of stores on the Polaris when at Thank God Harbour, Greenland, drawn up by George Tyson (1829-1906) (assistant navigator), William Morton (second mate) and Josep 1864-1872.
  • MS.7486/43: Francis Lafayette Harris (d. 1913), member of 1860 Hayes expedition; Obituary, cut from the Boston Herald . 1913.
  • MS.7486/44: Henry Hartsterne (fl. 1839-1855), commander of 1855 Kane relief expedition; 1 autograph official letter, signed. 1839.
  • MS.7486/45: Matthew Henson (1866-1955), member of Peary's Polar expeditions; 1 autograph letter, signed. 1909.
  • MS.7486/46: Gustav Holm (1849-1940), leader of Danish expedition to Eastern Greenland; Cutting (torn and apparently incomplete) from the Illustrated London News . 1886.
  • MS.7486/47-48: Henry Howgate (fl. 1878), proposer of what was to become the Greely expedition to Lady Franklin Bay; Newspaper cutting describing Howgate's plans for a base at Discovery Harbour, c. 1878 (no.47); 1 autograph letter, signed, with letterhead consisting of map of the Arctic region highlighting Lady Franklin Bay. 1880.
  • MS.7486/49: George Kennan (1845-1924), traveller in Siberia; 1 autograph letter, signed, to Dr. Townsend W. Thorndike, 1910, enclosing his signature on an index card and a page from the manuscript of his book Tent Life in Siberia , 1870. 1910.
  • MS.7486/50: E. de K. Leffingwell (fl. 1909); Autograph postcard, signed, showing Leffingwell's boat, 1909, plus cuttings of Leffingwell's signature and his letterhead, n.d. 1909.
  • MS.7486/51: James Lockwood (1852-1884), member of the 1881-1884 Greely expedition to Lady Franklin Bay and achiever of that expedition's farthest North; 1 official note, attached to a covering letter by his father Henry Lockwood. 1880-1888.
  • MS.7486/52-53: Sir Clements Robert Markham F.R.S. (1830-1916), geographer and historical writer; 1 autograph letter, signed, n.d. (no.52); cutting from The Nation reviewing The Life of Sir Clements R. Markham by Sir Albert H. Markham (1841-1918), 1918 (no.53). c.1918.
  • MS.7486/54: Sir Douglas Mawson (1882-1958), Australian Antarctic explorer; Offprint of review, in Science , of Mawson's The Home of the Blizzard, being the story of the Australian Antarctic Expedition, 1911-1914 , by Adolphus Greely (1844-1935), leader of the 1881-1884 U.S. expedition to Lady Franklin Bay, with autograph endorsement by Greely presenting it to Dr. Townsend W. Thorndike. 1915.
  • MS.7486/55-57: George Wallace Melville (1841-1912), survivor of the 1879 Jeannette expedition led by George Washington De Long (1844-1881); Official form giving muster roll of the Jeannette, torn along one fold, 1879 (no.55); autograph quotation ("Blow: blow ye wintry winds..."), signed by Melville, 1887 (no.56); manuscript description of incidents on expedition, dated "At Unalooska", ascribed to George Melville by an attached cutting but apparently signed "James Melville", n.d. (no.57). 1879-1887.
  • MS.7486/58: Robert Melville, 2nd Viscount Dundas (1771-1851); 1 autograph letter, signed, to Dundas from Pulteney Malcolm, forwarding a letter to Malcolm recommending a Captain Forbes. 1816.
  • MS.7486/59-64: Ejnar Mikkelsen (1880-1971), leader of expedition to North-East Greenland to recover bodies and records from the expedition of Ludvig Mylius Erichsen (1872-1907); Cutting surmising that Mikkelsen may be alive, 1911 (no.59); cuttings, from the Boston Herald and the Outlook announcing Mikkelsen's rescue, 1912 (nos.60-61); cuttings of Mikkelsen's account of his experiences, "Lost in the Arctic" from Pearson's Magazine , c.1912 (no.62) and "Perdus dans l'Arctique" from L'Illustration , 1912 (no.63), and a summary of Mikkelsen's account under the title "Terrible Hardships of the Arctic Explorer" from Leslie's Illustrated Weekly Newspaper , 1913 (no.64). 1911-1912.
  • MS.7486/65: John Muir (1838-1914), naturalist, explorer of Alaska; Newspaper obituary, probably from the Boston Herald . 1914.
  • MS.7486/66-68: Fridtjof Nansen (1861-1930); Map of Nansen's drift across the Polar pack in the Fram , taken from a French magazine, n.d. (no.66); cutting from a French periodical summarising the year 1896/7, including Nansen's voyage and the 1897 attempt on the Pole by Salomon Andrée (1854-1897), 1897 (no.67); cutting from Science containing announcement of the death of Hjalmar Johansen (1867-1913), Nansen's companion in his attempt on the Pole and a member of Amundsen's South Pole expedition, 1913 (no.68). 1896-1897.
  • MS.7486/69: Sir George Strong Nares (1831-1915), leader of British North Pole Expedition, 1875; Letter, incomplete, with letterhead of the Nares expedition. Date not legible, apparently after expedition's return. c.1875.
  • MS.7486/70: William Nindemann (d.1919), member of Hall's 1871-1872 Polaris expedition, the 1879 Jeannette expedition led by George Washington De Long (1844-1881) and the 1884 Greely relief expedition; Newspaper obituary. c.1919.
  • MS.7486/70A: Sir William Edward Parry (1790-1855); 1 autograph letter to Parry, signed "John Richardson" (probably not Sir John Richardson F.R.S. (1787-1865), physician, Arctic explorer and companion of Franklin) and requesting permission to examine a body, with Parry's permission and signature on the obverse. 1857.
  • MS.7486/71: Julius von Payer (1842-1915), Austrian explorer and painter; 1 autograph letter, signed. 1878.
  • MS.7486/72-76: Robert Peary (1856-1920); Printed welcome to Peary on his return to the U.S.A. in 1902, from the Peary Arctic Club, with map of Northern Greenland and members' printed signatures, signed and sent to Dr. Townsend W. Thorndike by the Club's secretary Herbert Bridgman (1844-1924), 1902 (no.72); article by Peary, "Exploration near home", from the magazine Recreation , 1908 (no.73); pages from The Travel Magazine , including articles by Peary ("Farthest North and the problem of the Pole") and Anthony Fiala ("How an Explorer will know when he reaches the Pole") as well as the cover and contents pages, both carrying Polar images, and an article on Denver, Colorado, 1908 (no.74); 2 copies of the cover of The North Pole: its discovery in 1909 by Peary, 1910 (no.75); copy of the Official Souvenir of the National Testimonial tendered to Commander Robert E. Peary, U.S.N. by the citizens of New York , with covering letter presenting it to Dr. Townsend W. Thorndike from Herbert Bridgman, 1910 (no.75); pages from the National Geographic Maga 1902-1920.
  • MS.7486/77: August Petermann (1822-1878), German geographer ("the Sage of Gotha") and promulgator of an Open Polar Sea theory; Cover of Dr. A. Petermanns Mitteilungen aus Justus Pethes' Geographischer Anstalt in Gotha . 19th century.
  • MS.7486/78: Constantine John Phipps, 2nd Baron Mulgrave (d.1792); 1 autograph letter, signed, by Daines Barrington (1727-1800), lawyer, naturalist, antiquary and friend of the naturalist Gilbert White (1720-1793), concerning Phipps' voyage towards the North Pole. 1773.
  • MS.7486/79-80: Admiral Bedford Clapperton Trevelyan Pim (1826-1886), member of 1852 Arctic expedition in search of Sir John Franklin; 2 autograph letters, signed. 1875-1881.
  • MS.7486/81: Henry Vincent Radcliffe (d.1913) and George Street (d.1913), Northern explorers; Newspaper cutting with news of the deaths of Radcliffe and Street in the Hudson's Bay area, plus a piece about the traveller and student of the Canadian Indians Mary L. Jobe (fl. 1912). 1913.
  • MS.7486/81A: Sir George Henry Richards (1820-1896), Hydrographer to the Admiralty; 1 autograph letter, signed, concerning the style of his name to be given on the title page to a report about the Suez Canal. 19th century.
  • MS.7486/82-88: Rear-Admiral Sir John Ross (1877-1856); 1 autograph letter, signed by Ross, 1839 (no.82); 1 autograph letter, signed, to Ross from Edward Sabine (1788-1883), 1818 (no.83); 1 autograph letter, signed, from John Franklin (1786-1847) to Captain Kater, describing a meeting with Ross and William Edward Parry (1790-1855) in Shetland before their departure on the Royal Navy's first Polar expedition of the nineteenth century, 1818 (no.84); published map showing coastline charted by Ross and his nephew and shipmate James Clark Ross (1800-1862) in their expedition of 1829-1833, 1834 (no.85); newspaper obituary of Ross, 1856 (no.86); pictures of Ross, one pencil and ink and one engraved, n.d. (nos.87-88). 1818-1856.
  • MS.7486/89-91: General Sir Edward Sabine F.R.S. (1788-1883); 2 autograph letters, signed, 1 to Jane, Lady Franklin, née Griffin (1792-1875) replying to her fears concerning her husband Sir John Franklin (1786-1847) on his final expedition 1847 (no.89), and 1 to Lady Herschel, n.d. (no.90); acknowledgement by the Royal Society of a paper sent by the astronomer Fearon Fallows (1789-1831), signed by Sabine as Secretary, 1830 (no.91). 1830-1847.
  • MS.7486/92-94: Rear-Admiral Winfield Scott Schley (1839-1909), commander of the 1884 Greely relief expedition; 3 newspaper obituaries. 1909.
  • MS.7486/95-99: Robert Falcon Scott (1868-1912); Cutting from a French periodical, showing Scott's ship, the Terra Nova , and mentioning his death, and also containing a note on a monument in Copenhagen to those who died on the expedition to North-East Greenland led by Ludvig Mylius Erichsen (1872-1907), 1913 (no.95); 2 cuttings reproducing photographs by Herbert Ponting published in Scott's Last Expedition , from The Sphere and the Illustrated London News , 1913 (nos.96-97); offprint of review, in Science , of Griffith Taylor's With Scott: the silver lining , by Adolphus Greely (1844-1935), leader of the 1881-1884 U.S. expedition to Lady Franklin Bay, with autograph endorsement by Greely presenting it to Dr. Townsend W. Thorndike, 1916 (no.98); cover of Leslie's Magazine , with a picture of Scott, 1913 (no.99). 1913.
  • MS.7486/100: Sir Ernest Shackleton (1874-1922); Cutting from an unidentified periodical in which Shackleton sets out his plans for an Antarctic expedition in 1908. 1907.
  • MS.7486/101: Chief Louis Shotridge, Alaskan anthropologist; Cutting from Science reporting on Shotridge's studies in South-West Alaska. 1919.
  • MS.7486/102: Sir George Simpson (1792-1860), Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company; 1 autograph letter, signed. 1855.
  • MS.7486/103: E. Timins; 1 autograph letter, signed, describing his daughters' measles. Late 19th century - early 20th century.
  • MS.7486/104: Walter Wellman (1858-1934), explorer and journalist; 1 autograph letter, signed. 1891.
  • MS.7486/105: Sir Allen Young (1827-1915), member of Franklin search expeditions; Cutting from Vanity Fair , with description and "Spy" cartoon of Young. 1877.
  • MS.7486/106: Coropuna: first ascent; Cutting from The Illustrated Outdoor World and Recreation , incomplete, describing the first ascent of Coropuna in the Peruvian Andes. 1913.

    • Publication/Creation

    1761-1920

    Physical description

    1 file (in 5 parts)

    Finding aids

    Database description transcribed from Richard Aspin and Christopher Hilton's typescript supplement to S.A.J Moorat's Catalogue of Western Manuscripts

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    This item contains information or visuals that may be upsetting or distressing.

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